EX     L  I  B  R  I  S 


•»"*»! 


CAPTAIN 

DON      W  I    L  K   I   E 


THE  PRISON  QUESTION. 


A    THEORETICAL  AND    PHILOSOPHICAL    REVIEW    OF    SOME 
MATTERS    RELATING   TO    CRIME,  PUNISHMENT,    PRIS- 
ONS, AND  REFORMATION  OF  CONVICTS.     WITH  A 
GLANCE  AT  MENTAL,  SOCIAL  AND  POLITICAL 
CONDITIONS;  AND  SOME  SUGGESTIONS 
ABOUT   CAUSES,   AND    THE    PRE- 
VENTION    OF     CRIME    AND 
THE  PRODUCTION  OF 
CRIMINALS. 


DESIGNED    TO    SHOW    HOW    SOCIETY   MAY   PROTECT   ITSELF  AGAINST   THE 
DISORDERLY    ELEMENTS,    AND    CHECK    THE    RAPID    IN- 
CREASE OF  THE   PRISON   POPULATION. 


All  of  our  efforts  will  fail  unless  we  adapt  our   methods  to  the 
operation  of  the  natural  forces. 


BY 

CHARLES  H.  REEVE. 


CHICAGO: 
KNIGHT  &  LEONARD  CO.,  PRINTERS, 


COPYRIGHT  1890, 
BY  CHARLES  H.  REEVE- 


PRESS  OF 

KNIGHT  &  LEONARD  CO., 
CHICAGO. 


CONTENTS. 


CHAPTER   I. 

PAGES 

THE  PRISON  QUESTION,    -  7-13 

CHAPTER  II. 
MENTALITY,  14-17 

CHAPTER   III. 
PHYSICAL  AND  MENTAL  ENERGY,  18-  26 

CHAPTER   IV. 
THEOLOGY,  27-  42 

CHAPTER  V. 
MIND,  43-  62 

CHAPTER  VI. 
NATURAL  FORCES,  63-  70 

CHAPTER  VII. 
MARRIAGE,  71-  89 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
SOCIETY,       -  90-1 1 1 

CHAPTER   IX. 
GOVERNMENT  AND  THE  CRIMINAL, 112-120 


CHAPTER  X. 
LEGISLATION  AND  THE  CRIMINAL,    -       -  -       -       121-138 

3 


4  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER   XI. 
CONVICTS  AND  GOVERNMENT,  -    139-148 

CHAPTER   XII. 
PUNISHMENT,  -        149-158 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
PRISONS,  -    159-172 

CHAPTER   XIV. 
REFORMATION,    -  -        173-189 

CHAPTER  XV. 
CONCLUSION,  .  .       190-194 


INTRODUCTORY. 


OOME  noted  man — perhaps  the  Rev.  Sidney  Smith — was 
^  asked  to  review  a  book,  and  this  was  his  review :  "  Most 
of  it  is  old.  What  is  old  has  been  better  said  before.  What 
is  new  had  better  not  been  said."  Some  who  read  this  little 
book  may  be  disposed  to  take  such  a  view  of  it  ;  but  new  or 
old,  well  or  ill  said,  the  truths  stated  in  it  cannot  be  found  else- 
where associated  together  in  application  to  the  prison  ques- 
tion, nor  addressed  to  the  common  comprehension  which  it  is 
desirable  to  reach.  Discussions  on  the  subject  here  treated, 
have  been  mostly  before  learned  bodies  and  in  scientific  lan- 
guage. The  common  readers,  to  whom  this  is  addressed,  have 
given  but  little  attention  to  the  subject-matter,  and  it  is  im- 
portant that  they  should  give  more.  Reformers  and  prison 
officials  may  find  things  in  it  they  can  use  to  advantage.  It 
is  not  expected  that  its  contents  will  meet  with  general 
approval  and  acceptance,  nor  that  it  will  escape  criticism  and 
perhaps  some  ridicule.  It  would  be  commonplace  if  it  should. 
It  contains  statements  of  fact,  which,  if  seriously  considered 
in  the  connection  they  are  here  placed  and  sought  to  be 
applied,  must  be  of  value ;  and  when  so  considered  they  will 
be  likely  to  modify  some  prevailing  opinions,  to  the  bet- 
terment of  the  unbalanced  classes  as  well  as  of  the  general 
community,  whatever  may  provoke  that  consideration. 

The  fundamental  propositions  laid  down  in  this  book  were 
outlined  by  me  in  a  public  lecture  twelve  years  ago,  and 
were  urged  with  some  emphasis.  They  were  briefly  urged  in 


6  INTRODUCTORY. 

papers  read  by  me  before  the  National  Prison  Congress  at 
Detroit  in  October,  1885,  on  "The  True  Theory  of  Reform," 
at  Boston  in  July,  1888,  on  "Dependent  Children"  and  at 
Nashville  in  November,  1889,  on  "Arousing  the  Public."  My 
aim  in  this  little  book  has  been,  to  group  some  important, 
well-established  facts  and  apply  them  to  the  subjects  of 
prisons  and  reforms,  in  such  order  as  will  interest  the  general 
public  so  far  as  I  can  reach  it ;  and  so  aid  in  creating  a  public 
opinion  that  can  intelligently  and  practically  deal  with  and 
dispose  of  the  defective  classes  and  the  causes  that  produce 
them. 


THE  PRISON  QUESTION. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

IN  1878,  I  read  a  paper  before  the  Philosophical  Society  of 
Chicago  on  the  "Rationale  of  Punishment"  for  public 
offences.  The  views  then  briefly  presented  are  elaborated  in 
this  work.  They  were  in  advance  of  the  times  then,  but  ex- 
perience and  concurrence  of  thought  have  shown  them  to  be 
generally  correct,  and  they  are  being  tried  in  practice  in  some 
respects  to  a  limited  extent,  in  some  localities.  The  time  is 
not  distant  when  the  public  opinion  will  fully  endorse  them, 
and  become  more  radical  in  its  efforts  to  suppress  vice  than  is 
herein  suggested.  The  ideas  advanced  have  passed  beyond 
the  mere  force  of  propositions,  and  sooner  or  later,  to  careful 
observers,  they  will  be  regarded  as  real  theories,  because  they 
are  in  harmony  with  their  environment,  and  will  continue  to 
be  so  as  the  field  of  inquiry  and  development  grows  larger. 

The  rapid  and  alarming  increase  in  the  numbers  of  criminals 
and  in  the  extension  of  the  planes  on  which  they  act,  as  well  as 
of  increase  of  the  demented,  and  the  professional  paupers, — 
being  out  of  proportion  to  increase  of  population, — present 
problems  for  solution  in  social,  political  and  mental  science, 
that  call  for  the  continued  and  diligent  efforts  of  the  ablest 
minds  in  the  land.  An  impractical  theology  on  one  hand,  and 
a  blind  agnosticism  on  the  other,  when  applied  to  the  sub- 
ject, the  one  misdirecting  practical  energy  and  true  humanity 
by  a  dogmatic  view  of  Special  Providence,  and  the  other 
breeding  a  disposition  to  construe  liberty  to  mean  license,  and 
hence,  a  misappropriation  and  misuse  of  privileges,  have 
brought  about  and  are  maintaining  conditions  that  operate  to 


8  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

prevent  a  true  solution  of  these  problems ;  while  they  alsc 
beget  and  force  into  practice,  propositions  and  efforts  in  the 
name  of  reforms,  that  are  false  in  conception  and  failures  in 
practice. 

That  from  a  false  position  no  step  can  be  taken  in  advance 
without  plunging  into  more  falsities,  is  a  fact  so  self-evident 
that  it  precludes  argument.  The  only  practical  steps  are  such 
as  lead  to  a  true  position.  That  attained,  practical  forward 
movement  can  be  made ;  keeping  a  wary  eye  for  tempting  but 
impractical  by-ways,  and  moving  no  faster  than  demonstra- 
tion shows  to  be  warranted.  There  can  be  no  solution  of 
problems  in  mathematics  unless  the  local  and  relative  value 
of  figures  and  symbols  be  maintained.  So  in  other  cases. 
The  conditions  and  operative  forces  must  be  studied,  and  all 
efforts  must  be  adapted  to  them  if  they  are  to  be  made  practi- 
cal. In  the  discussions  that  have  attended  the  efforts  of 
reformers,  and  that  have  finally  grown  into  what  is  called  the. 
prison  question,  many  elements  and  opinions  exist  that 
should  be  eliminated  at  this  time,  and  others  be  brought  for- 
ward, in  order  to  an  understanding  of  what  that  question  pre- 
sents. In  order  to  answer  it  correctly  the  whole  subject, 
matter  should  be  relieved  of  many  garments  that  have  been 
put  upon  it,  giving  it  a  false  appearance. 

The  question  is  much  like  an  issue  made  up  in  court  to  be 
tried.  As  the  allegations  are,  so  must  the  evidence  be ;  and 
parties  and  advocates  must  confine  themselves  to  the  record, 
for  justice  is  inflexible.  The  issue  is  the  skeleton.  The 
proofs  are  the  garments  to  clothe  it,  and  the  court  and  jury, 
directed  by  the  law,  are  to  see  that  they  are  put  on  in  the  right 
way  and  place,  and  send  it  forth  as  the  work  of  justice  ;  an 
evidence  of  the  power  of  the  law  through  the  court  to  enforce 
what  is  right  and  prohibit  what  is  wrong.  Sentimentalisms 
are  wholly  out  of  place  in  it.  Mercy  comes  after  justice. 
"  Mercy  seasons  justice."  There  can  be  no  mercy  until  there  is 
first  justice.  Justice  is  born  of  necessity  and  must  be  measured 
by  it.  In  the  prison  question  the  criminal  and  his  mentality 
is  the  issue,  the  environments — the  social,  political,  and  statu- 
tory conditions — are  the  evidence,  and  the  natural  forces 
operate  as  the  law.  Justice  regards  not  simply  the  welfare 


THE    PRISON   QUESTION.  9 

of  the  criminal,  but  of  the  public  and  of  individuals  as  well, 
in  all  relations. 

If  we  take  the  position  of  the  theologian,  that  a  Special 
Providence  is  necessary  and  it  must  be  invoked  or  all  efforts 
will  fail,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  great  law  of  equili- 
bration is  coeval  with  that  Providence  and  is  a  part  of  it ;  and 
that  Providence  itself  will  not  interfere  with  its  operations, 
lest  it  destroy  the  equilibrium  of  the  universe.  It  is  operative 
in  every  atom,  and  in  every  force  inherent  in  matter.  What- 
ever Providence  does  He  will  do  through  the  natural  and  ma- 
terial agencies  of  the  plane  on  which  action  is  taken.  When 
the  bully  went  to  a  clergyman's  house  to  whip  him  for  inter- 
fering on  behalf  of  one  of  his  parishioners  and  breaking  up  a 
proposed  marriage,  he  said  to  the  clergyman,  "  I  suppose  you 
expect  Providence  to  protect  you?"  "Yes,"  said  the  clergy- 
man, quickly  pushing  up  his  sleeves  and  letting  his  fist  go, 
"  and  this  is  the  instrument  he  will  use ;  "  and  he  knocked  the 
ruffian  clear  down  the  steps  onto  the  sidewalk,  putting  him 
hors  du  combat.  We  must  adopt  that  theologian's  view. 
"  Providence  helps  those  who  help  themselves  ;  "  that  is,  by 
natural  laws  He  has  placed  within  our  reach  every  needed 
element  and  tells  us  to  help  ourselves.  In  this  way  and  this 
only  will  there  be  any  interference  in  our  behalf — by  adapting 
ourselves  to  our  environments,  and  making  the  best  use  we 
can  of  the  opportunities  within  our  reach. 

If  we  take  the  view  of  the  materialist — that  there  is  no 
Providence,  and  that  annihilation  follows  the  end  of  conscious 
existence — we  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  universal  desire  to 
escape  that  annihilation  has  created  and  maintains  a  wide- 
spread belief  in  a  Providence ;  and  whatever  creates  and  sus- 
tains a  hope  of  a  higher  and  better  life  hereafter,  carries  with 
it  a  fear  of  not  attaining  it ;  and  that  hope  and  fear  combined, 
will  hold  millions  who  so  believe  to  a  moral  life,  who  would 
be  lawless  without  it.  Both  the  theologian  and  materialist 
should  recognize  the  fact  that,  to  work  together  for  a  common 
end  in  efforts  to  solve  what  is  called  the  prison  question,  they 
must  get  onto  the  mental  and  moral  le^el  of  the  crime  class 
in  order  to  comprehend  the  people  there,  and  be  compre- 
hended by  them  ;  for  unless  there  is  mutual  comprehension 


10  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

the  higher  cannot  raise  the  lower,  and  there  can  be  no  per- 
manent reform  of  prisons,  prisoners,  or  those  from  among 
whom  prisoners  come.  If  there  is  mutual  comprehension  of 
the  theological  plane,  and  mutual  belief  in  any  case,  and 
reform  so  comes,  well  and  good ;  that  case  was  a  right  use  of 
opportunities.  But  if  there  be  no  such  comprehension  the 
theologian  will  fail  as  a  reformer  in  every  such  case.  If  on 
the  other  hand,  there  be  a  mutual  comprehension  on  the 
plane  of  the  materialist,  and  the  moral  perception  is  so  en- 
larged that  observance  of  order  and  justice  follows,  the  mater- 
ialist will  succeed  ;  otherwise,  he  will  fail  as  a  reformer.  If 
both  fail,  then  physical  force  alone  remains  for  both. 

But  there  is  a  plane  for  action  common  to  both,  and  united 
effort  on  that  plane  will  accomplish  all  that  is  possible  to  be 
done,  and  the  object  of  this  work  is,  to  so  deal  with  the  facts 
as  to  disclose  it  and  so  make  the  way  clear  to  an  answer  to 
the  prison  question.  It  would  be  futile  to  preach  Christianity 
to  a  Jew  or  a  Mohammedan.  His  moral  perceptions,  or  fears, 
or  hopes  must  be  reached  through  channels^  where  he  can  see 
the  way.  It  would  be  a  waste  of  labor  to  try  to  beat  the 
Christian  theology  into  the  mind  of  an  ignorant,  brutal  boor, 
full  of  superstitions.  In  a  word,  reformers  must  bridge  the 
chasm  •  between  orthodoxy  and  heterodoxy,  spiritualism  and 
materialism,  and  cross  and  re-cross  as  may  be  necessary  to  get 
to  the  level  of  the  individual  who  is  to  be  taught  to  recognize 
and  live  in  a  moral  atmosphere.  With  convicts,  the  aim  i?,  to 
induce  them  to  observe  civil  order.  Any  influence  which  will 
accomplish  that,  should  be  used. 

Up  to  this  time  the  knowledge  and  opinions  on  the  subject 
have  been  more  of  accidental  growth  than  the  result  of  spe- 
cific designs  and  practical  efforts  from  philosophical  deduc- 
tions. During  the  time  when  convicts  were  denied  all  means 
for  protection  when  under  charge  and  on  trial,  and  all  means 
for  relief  under  conviction,  when  they  were  regarded  as  out- 
laws and  subjected  to  severe  penalties,  with  fixed  terms,  denied 
every  comfort,  herded  together  without  distinction  as  to  pre- 
vious or  present  conditions,  and  generally  treated  worse  than 
brutes,  philanthropy,  based  on  emotional  pity,  sought  entrance 
to  the  prisons  in  two  forms:  one,  that  of  John  Howard,  to  amel- 


THE   PRISON   QUESTION.  I  I 

iorate  the  prisoner's  hard  lot ;  the  other,  that  of  church  consola- 
tion. The  prison  authorities  generally  regarded  both  with  dis- 
favor; but  the  knowledge  of  facts  about  prisons  thus  gained, 
was  carried  out,  and  in  time  came  before  the  public.  An  opin- 
ion grew  that  forced  improvements.  Charitable  societies 
formed  and  aid  was  given  to  discharged  prisoners,  and  disci- 
pline became  more  humane.  Legislation  was  invoked  and 
criminal  laws  were  modified.  Mentality,  society  and  politics 
were  classed  among  subjects  for  scientific  investigation  and 
study,  but  while  what  now  is  called  the  prison  question  in- 
volved them  all  more  than  did  any  other  subject,  it  was  not 
so  regarded  in  the  general  perception,  or  even  in  that  of  a 
majority  of  the  reformers. 

As  always  happens  with  social  and  political  innovations, 
reformers  dealt  with  results  rather  than  with  causes,  while  in 
fact,  the  answer  to  the  prison  question  must  be  found  in  the 
causes  of  the  conditions  rather  than  in  the  conditions ;  to 
which,  thus  far  inquiry  has  been  largely  confined.  Gradually, 
a  consciousness  of  this  fact  dawned  upon  a  few  here  and  there, 
but  it  was  running  counter  to  the  main  currents  of  opinion  to 
attempt  to  direct  attention  to  the  real  causes,  and  few  had 
the  courage  to  attempt  it  with  a  hope  that  attention  could  be 
secured.  The  inquiry  into  the  conditions  of  prisons  and  of 
convicts  in  them,  how  to  make  them  more  comfortable,  and 
give  the  convicts  better  surroundings  than  many  honest  labor- 
ing people  outside  had  who  were  taxed  to  support  them,  was 
exhaustive  ;  and  great  improvements  resulted  for  the  convict. 
But  the  real  origin  of  the  conditions  and  operative  forces  that 
produced  the  fast  increasing  numbers  of  criminals  and  con- 
victs, received  comparatively  little  attention. 

It  must  now  be  conceded  that  a  demand  for  inquiry  into  the 
causes,  and  means  for  their  removal,  enters  more  largely  into 
the  prison  question  than  does  any  other ;  and  until  that  in- 
quiry receives  the  attention  a  true  reform  demands  and  makes, 
necessary,  the  prison  question  will  not  be  solved  nor  will  any 
actual  advance  be  made  of  permanent  character  in  reform  ; 
that  is,  a  reform  that  aids  in  removing  the  cause  while  amelior- 
ating the  resulting  conditions.  There  can  be  no  permanent 
reform  of  any  evil  while  the  cause  of  the  evil  sought  to  be 


12  THE    PRISON   QUESTION. 

reformed  remains  in  operative  force.  If  I  shall  succeed  in 
directing  the  attention  of  even  a  few  to  the  causes  that  pro- 
duce and  maintain  the  crime  class  and  that  stand  in  the  way 
of  reform,  my  labor  will  not  have  been  in  vain. 

When  Jesus  Christ  began  in  Judea  to  preach  a  radical  revo- 
lution, one  that  was  at  war  with  the  beliefs,  prejudices  and 
passions  that  had  been  the  growth  of  centuries,  he  created 
antagonisms  which  gave  existence  to  energies  that  created  a 
religious  belief  for  one-third — and  the  most  intellectual — of 
the  human  race,  besides  causing  his  own  crucifixion.  It  is  so 
in  part  with  every  one  who  advocates  anything  that  runs 
counter  to  the  current  public  opinion  ;  they  create  antagonisms. 
The  seeds  of  truth  thus  sown  will  germinate  sooner  or  later; 
and  the  generation  that  recognizes  their  existence  and  value 
will  cultivate  them.  When  recognized,  there  will  be  a  truer 
and  a  higher  civilization.  Error  is  the  mother  of  mysticism 
and  superstition,  and  these  are  the  parents  of  science.  Noth- 
ing can  exist  without  an  opposite.  Everything  exists  in  its 
opposite.  There  can  be  no  light  without  darkness,  no  hope 
without  despair,  no  truth  without  error,  no  ignorance  without 
knowledge,  no  love  without  hate,  no  death  without  life,  no 
crime  without  order,  no  good  without  evil,  and  so  on  of  every- 
thing in  existence.  Even  the  Bible  could  not  create  a  God  to 
worship  without  a  Devil  to  antagonize  Him,  nor  a  heaven  for 
the  righteous  without  a  hell  for  the  wicked. 

Everything  that  comes  into  existence  brings  in  equilibrium 
the  elements  of  good  and  evil,  either  in  itself  or  in  its  relation 
to  other  things.  To  derive  the  most  from  the  good  and  confine 
the  evil  in  such  channels  as  will  effect  the  least  injury  is  all 
that  can  be  attained ;  and  to  this  end  the  intelligence  of  men 
should  be  directed  and  their  energies  be  exerted. 

The  correlation  and  conservation  of  forces  is  eternal,  and 
the  law  of  equilibration  will  be  eternally  operative.  It  applies 
to  the  conditions  of  men  individually  and  socially  in  all 
relations,  as  it  does  to  matter  in  all  forms  and  conditions;  and 
no  theory  of  reform  can  be  made  operative  for  good  that  does 
not  recognize  these  facts,  and  endeavor  to  shape  all  efforts  in 
conformity  to  them.  Let  us  see  if  an  examination  of  a  few 
fundamental  truths,  and  of  some  conditions  as  they  exist,  will 


THE    PRISON   QUESTION.     .  13 

enable  us  to  more  clearly  comprehend  this  so-called  "Prison 
Question." 

A  full  consideration  of  the  subject  involves  directly  and 
collaterally,  not  simply  the  convicts,  but  all  of  the  defective 
classes.-  The  incurably  diseased,  the  insane,  the  weak-minded 
and  idiotic,  all  who  are  mentally  defective  and  unbalanced, 
the  vicious,  the  criminally  inclined,  and  the  hereditary  pauper 
and  vagabond  classes  from  which  they  largely  come.  It 
demands  consideration  of  the  relations  that  exist  between 
society  and  government  on  the  one  hand  and  these  classes  on 
the  other;  and  the  real  question  is,  what  duty  does  the  sound, 
moral,  orderly  and  self-supporting  portion  of  the  population 
owe  to  themselves  in  view  of  these  classes?  They  alone  can 
organize  and  maintain  government  and  constitute  orderly 
society ;  and  they  alone  must  carry  the  burdens.  The  duty 
they  owe  to  these  classes — which  has  been  largely  considered  to 
this  time — will  be  disclosed  in  fully  considering  this  question. 


CHAPTER  II. 

MENTALITY. 

THE  first  thing  that  confronts  us  when  we  come  to  the 
consideration  of  the  criminal  class,  is  the  mentality  of 
the  individual.  That  mentality  is  dependent  on  the  quality  of 
brain  and  nerve  substance,  the  volume  and  arrangement  of 
brain  ganglia,  and  the  impressions  made  on  body  and  brain  by 
environment.  Science  has  demonstrated  that  each  particular 
function  of  what  we  call  mind  has  its  special  location  and  is 
centered  in  some  local  part  of  the  brain-substance  called  a 
ganglion ;  which  can  be  removed  and  that  part  of  the  mind 
will  be  gone  and  the  function  located  there  be  lost.  Using  the 
description  of  another  for  brevity,  I  will  try  to  make  the  idea 
clear  to  the  common  mind. 

The  brain  contains  two  kinds  of  matter,  one  white  and  the 
other  gray.  The  medulla  oblongata  at  the  base  of  the  brain 
connects  it  with  the  spinal  cord.  From  the  spinal  cord  nerves 
extend  through  the  bony  spinal  column  in  two  sets,  consisting 
of  gray  matter  and  white.  One  matter  conveys  the  energy 
that  gives  the  sense  of  feeling  and  the  other  the  energy  that 
gives  the  power  of  motion.  Others  from  the  medulla  and 
lower  brain  supply  the  face,  throat,  etc.  With  each  thought 
and  each  motion  a  portion  of  the  tissue  is  consumed  and  the 
waste  must  be  supplied  by  proper  nutriment,  digested,  and 
carried  by  the  blood,  and  taken  up  by  the  formative  vessels 
adapted  to  that  work. 

"  Experiments  in  vivisection  (dissection  and  examination  of 
living  animals)  demonstrated  that  the  whole  brain  above  the 
medulla  could  be  removed  and  the  animal  functions  of  the 
body  would  go  on.  The  higher  brain  could  be  removed  and  as 
long  as  the  medulla  was  uninjured  the  remaining  brain  would 
perform  its  functions.  For  instance,  the  higher  parts  of  the 
brain  were  removed  from  a  pigeon,  and  it  showed  indifference 


MENTALITY.  1 5 

when  let  alone,  but  under  the  stimulus  of  electricity  it  would 
live.  If  laid  on  its  back  it  would  regain  its  feet.  If  pinched 
it  would  walk  away.  If  thrown  in  the  air  it  would  use  its 
wings  and  descend  in  its  usual  manner.  Light  would  make  the 
the  pupils  of  the  eyes  contract.  If  ammonia  was  held  to  its 
nose  it  would  draw  back  in  disgust.  It  made  no  effort  to  feed 
itself,  but  would  swallow  food  when  put  in  its  mouth,  and  would 
die  of  starvation  if  not  artificially  fed.  So  in  frogs  and  fishes. 
With  the  higher  portions  of  the  brain  removed,  a  fish  will  go 
on  swimming  until  its  course  is  impeded.  It  will  take  no  food 
and  will  die  of  starvation.  A  frog  will  move  about  in  the 
water  until  it  reaches  land  and  then  will  sit  indifferent.  If 
stroked  on  the  back  it  will  croak. 

"So  in  man,  certain  subdivisions  of  his  faculties  correspond 
to  certain  subdivisions  of  the  brain.  The  medulla,  as  stated, 
is  the  connecting  link  between  the  spinal  cord  and  the  brain, 
and  its  most  important  function  is  to  regulate  the  respiratory 
movements.  The  paralysis  of  some  nerve  centers  or  blood 
vessels  in  the  medulla  is  called  sun-stroke  or  heat-stroke  and 
causes  death.  The  medulla  controls  the  movements  of  swal- 
lowing ;  it  contains  the  center  for  the  physiognomical  play  of  the 
muscles  of  the  face  and  another  for  articulated  words.  All  of 
its  functions  are  mechanical  or  automatic,  and  will  continue 
when  the  higher  brain  has  been  removed  or  is  impaired  by 
disease. 

"The  affections,  fear,  terror,  pleasure,  pain,  etc.,  are  function- 
ated in  the  second  division  of  the  brain, — the  optic  lobes  or 
bridge. 

"  The  cerebellum  or  little  brain  is  the  third  division.  It  is  the 
organ  of  equilibration.  The  animal  from  which  it  has  been  re- 
moved staggers  and  appears  drunk.  One  part  of  the  cerebellum 
prevents  man  from  falling  forward,  another  from  falling  back- 
ward, another  from  turning  around  in  a  circle. 

"  The  central  ganglia  are  the  fourth  division  and  they  enable 
us  to  do  many  complex  things  in  a  mechanical  way ;  to  walk 
while  thinking  or  reading;  to  play  music  while  thinking  of 
something  entirely  different ;  to  sew,  knit  and  talk  without 
paying  much  attention  to  it. 

"  The  highest  division  of  the  brain,  its  gray  matter,  is  the  fifth 


1 6  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

division.  This  is  the  portion  that  may  be  called  the  seat  of 
the  soul.  It  is  not  a  single  organ,  but  consists  of  a  number  of 
differentiated  organs,  each  one  of  which  is  possessed  of  certain 
functions,  yet  is  in  the  closest  possible  connection  with  all  the 
others. 

"To  define  all  these  various  organs  with  accuracy,  to  define 
their  intimate  structure  as  well  as  their  individual  energy,  and 
to  trace  the  physiological  and  pathological  alterations  which 
they  undergo  during  the  natural  process  of  development, 
maturity  and  decay,  and  in  diseases  to  which  they  are  subject, 
is  the  greatest  problem  for  the  anatomy  and  physiology  of  the 
twentieth  century ;  and  when  it  is  solved  a  complete  revolution 
in  psychology  must  result." 

With  these  facts  before  us,  what  a  view  is  presented  in  this 
prison  question !  What  possible  solution  can  there  be  of  any 
value  unless  these  facts  are  carefully  considered  in  studying 
the  criminal  class  and  the  causes  of  crime?  In  that  study  we 
are  met  at  the  threshold  by  two  things  that  claim  our  attention. 
The  first  is,  the  fact  that  no  impression  can  be  made  upon  the 
brain  ganglions  but  such  as  come  through  the  channels  of  the 
senses,  and  the  other  is,  the  origin  and  character  of  the 
material  that  make  up  the  body  and  brain  of  the  individual. 
If  the  origin  is  vicious  and  the  material  coarse  the  impressions 
made  and  retained  will  be  different  under  the  same  environ- 
ment from  what  they  would  be  with  the  origin  moral  and  the 
material  fine.  So  if  the  origin  be  fine  and  the  material  good, 
but  the  environment  be  coarse  or  vicious,  the  impressions  made 
and  remaining  will  be  different  from  either  of  the  others. 

Again,  the  physical  development  of  the  body  will  greatly 
modify  the  character  of  impressions.  If  digestion  and  powers 
of  assimilation  be  good  and  the  environment  be  coarse  the 
fibre  produced  to  supply  waste  will  not  be  such  as  it  would  be 
with  better  fare,  nor  the  impressions  be  the  same.  If  the 
physical  powers  be  weak,  digestion  and  assimilation  imperfect, 
the  physical  and  mental  results  will  be  materially  modified. 
There  is  a  conscious  intelligence  in  matter  which,  when  left  to 
itself  and  unobstructed  in  its  processes,  makes  no  mistakes. 
For  instance,  take  a  preparation  of  corn  meal  in  the  form  of 
food  and  feed  it  to  a  sheep  and  k  will  make  mutton,  tallow 


MENTALITY.  \J 

and  wool.  If  given  to  a  hog  it  will  make  pork,  lard,  hair  and 
bristles.  If  given  to  a  negro  it  will  make  black  skin,  kinky 
hair,  flat  nose,  thick  lips,  and  an  imitative,  non-progressive 
brain  energy.  If  given  to  a  white  man  it  will  make  a  white 
skin,  various  colored  straight  hair,  various  colored  eyes, 
shapely  limbs  and  features,  a  higher  quality  of  brain  and  an 
original,  progressive  brain  energy.  In  each  of  these  the  brain 
fibre  will  be  different  and  the  impressions  through  the  senses 
unlike.  In  each  there  will  be  higher  and  lower  types  of  both 
physical  and  mental  construction,  and  outgrowth  consequent. 
With  iron,  brass  and  silver  we  make  progressively,  finer 
castings  and  polish,  and  they  are  progressively  subject  to 
oxydation  in  the  same  order,  the  coarsest  more,  the  finer  less- 
So  with  the  body;  the  coarser  the  fibre  the  less  susceptible  of 
fine  impressions,  the  less  capable  of  comprehending  and  acting 
under  moral  perception.  The  finer  the  fibre  the  more  suscepti- 
ble to  higher  impressions.  Then  comes  the  arrangement  of 
ganglions  and  the  impressions  made,  whether  coarse  or  fine,  to 
determine  the  controlling  energy  under  which  the  individual 
will  act.  In  dealing  with  criminals  with  a  view  to  reformation 
we  must  become  advised  of  the  physical  construction  of  the 
individual,  quality  of  material,  existence  of  brain  ganglia, 
their  combinations,  and  the  impressions  already  made.  If 
what  is  lacking  to  a  true  moral  perception  can  be  supplied  and 
what  is  obstructed  can  be  removed,  reformation  is  possible ; 
but  it  is  not,  otherwise.  The  character,  quality  and  arrange- 
ment of  brain  ganglia  with  the  impressions  made  upon  them 
constitute  the  elements  of  mentality  and  source  of  mental 
energy  of  the  individual. 


CHAPTER  III. 

PHYSICAL   AND    MENTAL   ENERGY. 

A  SCIENTIST  or  philosopher  must  have  opinions  and  form 
•^l*  theories,  but  he  recognizes  that  a  proposition  is  a  the- 
ory only  when  it  agrees  with  its  environments ;  and  he  bends 
his  energies  to  ascertain  the  exact  truth  regardless  of  the  fate 
of  his  opinions.  If  the  truth  makes  for  or  against  his  opinions 
his  search  is  directed  to  the  discovery  and  elucidation  of  facts 
as  they  exist  and  their  bearing  on  other  facts  already  known ; 
his  opinions  or  theories  being  among  the  elements  directing 
his  efforts.  He  is  no  scientist  who  searches  alone  for  facts  to 
sustain  a  theory  and  rejects  all  that  are  opposed  to  his  theory. 

In  using  the  word  "education"  in  connection  with  this 
branch  of  my  subject,  I  mean  to  include  the  knowledge 
acquired  from  all  sources ;  the  surroundings  and  associations 
of  the  individual  as  well  as  that  from  teaching  and  books.  In 
using  the  words  "mental  organization,"  or  "organism,"  I 
mean  to  include  the  brain  and  the  whole  nerve  structure,  its 
sources  of  supply,  growth,  progress,  waste,  deterioration,  and 
the  causes;  the  quantity  and  quality  of  brain  and  nerve  mat- 
ter and  the  influence  that  affect  each  and  all  in  a  material 
way,  internal,  external,  directly  and  relatively.  Mind  and  its 
operations,  in  directing  the  acts  of  the  rest  of  the  body,  depend 
on  all  and  not  on  a  part,  and  the  act  is  a  result  of  all  and  not 
of  a  part.  Human  beings  are  as  unlike  in  these  things  as  they 
are  in  their  looks,  manners  and  acts. 

The  word  "  mentality "  will  express  the  energy  that  is  pro- 
duced by  the  mental  organization,  the  capacity  to  receive  im- 
pressions, and  manifest  the  impulses  they  prompt.  The  word 
•"mentalism"  will  include  the  perceptions,  the  impulses,  the 
opinions,  the  beliefs,  and  general  "isms"  that  are  the  actual 
outgrowths  of  that  mentality.  I  use  this  order  regardless  of 
lexicons  and  ordinary  definitions. 


PHYSICAL  AND  MENTAL  ENERGY.  1 9 

It  cannot  be  denied  that  great  intellect  and  great  passions 
and  appetites  go  together,  in  some  form,  and  it  is  always  a 
question  which  will  dominate.  It  depends  largely  on  environ- 
ment and  education.  I  do  not  use  the  word  passion  in  the 
sense  usually  understood  only.  Its  manifestations  are  end- 
less. It  may  be  in  the  direction  of  wine,  women,  sporting, 
penuriousness,  senseless  extravagance*,  inordinate  ambition, 
brainless  adventure,  love  of  tyranny,  love  of  notoriety,  and 
other  outlets.  The  intellect  may  vitiate  the  passions  and 
appetites,  or  they  may  be  vicious  by  inheritance  and  the  in- 
tellect may  increase  or  diminish  the  vicious  quality.  We  may 
compare  the  mental  organization  to  a  motive  power  and  work- 
ing machinery. 

The  vital  source  of  energy  in  the  human  structure — what- 
ever and  wherever  it  may  be — commonly  supposed  to  center 
in  the  base  of  the  brain,  may  be  called  the  engine,  supplied  by 
the  functions  of  the  body  as  a  boiler,  and  in  turn  enabling  the 
body  to  supply  itself,  aided  by  reciprocal  energy.  The  intel- 
lect or  higher  brain  may  be  called  the  working  machinery. 
If  the  machinery  is  large  and  either  rapid  moving  and  incisive, 
or  ponderous  and  slow-moving  but  powerful,  the  motive  power 
must  be  capable  of  moving  it  properly  and  be  adapted  to  it. 
The  so-called  moral  sentiments  may  be  called  the  regulating 
machinery  ;  the  feed,  exhaust,  governors,  cut-offs,  cams,  levers, 
guides,  friction  rollers,  and  other  adjustments  controlling  the 
motive  power  on  one  hand  and  the  movements  of  the  working 
machinery  on  the  other. 

First,  that  capacity  of  the  regulating  machinery  to  admit  of 
adaptation,  and  second,  the  method  of  adaptation,  determines 
whether  the  power  shall  control  the  working  machinery  for 
good  or  for  evil.  For  want  of  proper  control  shall  the  intel- 
lect be  used,  finally,  to  feed  the  motive  power — the  appetites 
and  passions — or  shall  the  motive  power  be  controlled  and 
used  to  exert  the  intellect  for  great  and  useful  ends?  The 
.brightest  intellects  never  reach  full  maturity.  Dazzled  by 
their  own  light,  no  adjustment  controls  them  and  they  dash 
wildly  to  their  own  destruction.  The  world  is  full  of 
instances. 

The   small    but    incisive    intellect    may   have  great   animal 


20  THE    PRISON    QUESTION. 

brain  behind  it  and  the  moral  brain  be  wholly  overborne.  The 
great  intellect  may  have  small  animal  and  small  moral  powers 
and  be  weakly  vicious.  The  great  and  active  intellect  and 
great  animal  brain  may  go  together  and  have  no  sufficient 
moral  governor,  and  become  great  in  vice.  It  may  have 
moral  balance  but  be  improperly  educated ;  or  be  surrounded 
by  evil  influences  if  rightly  educated,  and  so  the  intellect  be 
dominated  by  the  animal.  We  may  have  a  fair  balance  of 
brain  organization  educated,  and  yet,  from  some  idiosyncrasy 
have  a  lack  of  moral  perception.  Of  this  we  have  a  striking 
illustration  in  the  South.  Where  there  used  to  be  an  hun- 
dred negro  convicts  in  the  penitentiary  there  are  now  six 
hundred,  and  the  increase  comes  mostly  from  among  the  edu- 
cated negroes.  The  increased  intelligence  is  used  to  secure 
the  gratification  of  the  impulses  of  the  animal  rather  than  for 
the  elevation  of  the  intellectual  man. 

In  all  cases  it  depends  materially  on  circumstances  which 
will  dominate  and  in  many  cases  the  actual  character  of  brain 
tissue,  the  sources  of  supply  and  process  of  waste,  must  be 
considered  as  circumstances.  We  may  take  illustrations  of 
the  principle  from  among  noted  men.  Eugene  Aram,  Dr. 
Webster,  of  Boston,  and  Monroe  Edwards  as  exhibiting  one 
phase  ending  in  the  highest  grade  of  crimes.  As  an  example 
in  two  directions  we  may  take  Daniel  Webster.  As  examples 
of  vicious  ambition,  selfishness,  jealousy,  and  criminal  revenge, 
we  may  take  Aaron  Burr  and  Benedict  Arnold.  For  thieves, 
embezzlers  and  swindlers,  with  fine  ability,  classical  education, 
and  years  in  positions  of  trust,  we  can  take  our  penitentiaries, 
and  the  cities  of  Canada  with  their  refugees.  The  illustrations 
cited  are  merely  to  emphasize  the  proposition  that  strong  in- 
tellect and  strong  animal  impulses  go  together,  and  it  de- 
pends largely  on  accidental  circumstances  which  will  dom- 
inate. 

Strong  physical  energy  manifests  itself  in  bodily  activity 
when  of  a  kind  to  feed  and  sustain  active  mental  energy. 
When  not  of  that  kind  it  may  be  perfect  in  its  automatic 
action  of  supply  and  waste  of  tissue,  and  averse  to  bodily 
activity.  Strong  mental  energy  when  from  organic  combina- 
tions of  ganglia  that  give  versatility,  stimulates  bodily  activity^ 


PHYSICAL  AND    MENTAL   ENERGY.  21 

whether  the  physical  organism  of  the  body  be  strong  or  weak. 
If  weak,  the  mental  energy  soon  consumes  it.  If  in  a  strong 
body  they  will  mutually  stimulate  activity.  We  have  in- 
stances of  weak  and  inferior  development,  both  physical  and 
mental,  from  sources  where — from  the  parentage — we  would 
expect  the  reverse.  It  can  be  accounted  for  only  on  the  sup- 
position of  partial  arrest  of  development  during  the  period  of 
utero-gestation,  or  some  abnormal  conditions  following  birth. 
On  the  other  hand  we  find  instances  of  strong  bodily  and 
mental  development  from  sources  where — from  the  parentage 
— it  was  not'  to  be  expected.  In  such  case  we  look  to  like 
conditions  in  the  remote  ancestors,  cropping  out,  or  to  unusual 
conditions  occurring  in  the  early  life  of  the  individual  favorable 
to  such  development. 

Let  us  consider  the  matter  from  a  pathological  point  of 
view.  A  physician  is  called  to  attend  on  a  sick  man.  He  is 
compelled  to  take  him  just  as  he  finds  him  and  to  diagnose  his 
case  from  such  facts  as  are  within  his  reach.  He  does  so, 
decides  on  the  treatment,  and  makes  a  prognosis  from  the  best 
light  he  has.  At  the  next  visit  he  may  find  that  his  diagnosis 
was  not  exactly  right,  or  that  the  result  of  his  treatment  is 
not  exactly  what  he  hoped  for,  and,  of  course,  his  prognosis  is 
wrong  more  or  less.  He  diagnoses  again  from  the  changed 
conditions,  varies  the  treatment  and  makes  a  new  prognosis. 
He  must  depend  on  it  until  he  has  demonstration.  And  in 
this  way  he  must  go  on  from  day  to  day.  When  he  finds 
himself  right,  following  out  the  indicated  treatment,  and  when 
wrong,  changing  it.  Convalescence  and  complete  restoration 
may  follow.  Complications  may  intervene  and  still  there 
may  be  recovery.  Accidents  may  occur  from  neglect  of  a 
nurse,  or  from  some  death  or  calamity  in  the  family ;  or  from 
fire  or  other  cause  compelling  hasty  removal  and  exposure, 
or  idiosyncrasies  of  constitution  unknown  to  him  may  be 
inimical  to  certain  remedies  used ;  and  the  patient  may 
linger,  and  arise  thoroughly  broken,  or  he  may  die.  All 
may  be  right  on  the  doctor's  part  and  defects  and  impuri- 
ties in  the  drugs  used,  unknown  to  him,  may  cause  unfavor- 
able results  or  failure,  and  he  be  never  the  wiser.  But 
one  fact  is  patent  in  case  of  failure,  the  patient  is  lost. 


22  THE   PRISON    QUESTION. 

If  the  doctor  be  skilful  he  moves  cautiously.  He  knows 
that  nearly  everything  is  hidden  from  him  except  the  promi- 
nent symptoms.  He  palliates  here,  relieves  there,  stimulates 
one  thing,  narcotizes  another,  experiments  where  he  must, 
and  resorts  to  heroic  treatment  when  emergencies  demand  it. 
But  he  watches  results,  waits  when  he  can,  studies  effects  and 
conditions,  and  constantly  tries  to  see  the  way  to  relief  and 
restoration. 

Now  let  us  take  a  child  born  into  the  world.  No  matter 
whether  it  be  the  offspring  of  prince  or  peasant,  millionaire  or 
pauper,  scholar  or  ignorant  boor,  of  hospital  inmate  or  prison 
convict ;  we  must  take  it  as  we  find  it.  The  physical  orgajiism, 
the  character  and  arrangement  of  brain  ganglia,  the  texture  of 
fibre  and  tissue,  the  complete  or  partial  development  through- 
out, is  all  just  what  it  is,  and  it  is  a  living  human  being  that 
may  survive  and  become  a  factor  in  society  and  government. 
I  repeat,  we  must  take  it  with  its  environment  just  as  they  are, 
and  the  person  who  has  the  custody,  and  nurture  and  care  of 
it  occupies  the  exact  position  as  to  responsibility  and  duty 
which  that  physician  did  beside  the  bed  of  that  sick  patient, 
except  that  they  are  to  treat  both  body  and  mind.  Here  is 
this  visible  beginning  of  physical  and  mental  energy.  From 
both  may  grow  other  forces  capable  of  important  results. 
Here  is  a  body  with  the  natural  senses,  and  here  is  a  brain  to 
be  fed  in  part  by  that  body,  using  some  of  the  senses,  and  to 
be  impressed  in  other  parts  and  become  the  seat  of  knowledge, 
developing  mental  energy,  begetting  impulses  to  be  manifested 
in  words  and  acts,  making  more  or  less  impress  on  others  with 
whom  it  will  come  in  contact,  and  for  good  or  evil.  It  is 
utterly  helpless  and  can  do  nothing  for  itself  in  development 
of  body  or  mind.  First,  it  is  wholly  dependent  on  existing 
bodily  conditions,  and  next,  on  environment  now  and  hence- 
forward. What  will  be  the  bodily  and  mental  development? 
That  will  depend  on  the  skill,  treatment  and  attention  of 
those  rearing  it.  There  will  never  come  a  time  in  its  whole 
life  when  it  will  not  be  dominated  by  such  energy  as  will  be 
developed  from  the  impressions  made  upon  it  continuously 
until  it  reaches  what  is  called  "the  age  of  discretion,"  and 
that  discretion  will  depend  much  on  such  impressions. 


PHYSICAL   AND    MENTAL   ENERGY.  23 

If  the  persons  who  nurture  and  rear  this  child  are  like  the 
skilful  doctor,  they  will  pursue  such  a  course  as  he  did. 
They  will  study  the  child  day  by  day,  diagnose,  decide  on  the 
management  of  it,  and  try  to  study  results  in  advance  from 
day  to  day,  both  as  to  physical  and  mental  development, 
results  of  management  and  training,  and  watch  and  wait ; 
changing  diagnosis  and  treatment  as  developments  indicate  as 
far  as  knowledge  will 'guide.  It  requires  a  sound  body  to 
develop  and  maintain  a  sound  mind.  Attention  must  be 
directed  then  to  healthy  bodily  development,  building  up  and 
strengthening  what  is  weak  or  backward  and  suppressing  what 
is  over-developed  and  abnormal.  As  intelligence  begins  to 
dawn  with  perception  and  knowledge  coming  through  the 
senses,  the  serious  responsibility  begins  of  studying  the  mental 
organization.  As  mentalisms  develop  themselves  they  are  the 
visible  symptoms;  guided  by  them,  it  is  possible  to  build  up  a 
strong  and  balanced  mentality.  If  perceptions  develop  early 
and  rapidly,  and  the  child  begins  soon  to  notice  and  learns 
quick,  shows  signs  of  precocity,  note  the  directions  in  which 
perception  prompts  impulses.  For  instance,  if  they  tend  to 
combativeness,  destructiveness,  and  violent  temper,  try  to 
divert  attention,. and  guide  impulses  in  some  other  direction 
until  its  attention  can  be  gained,  and  begin  to  cultivate  the 
perceptions  and  impulses  that  tend  to  balance  these,  and 
watch  for  exhibitions  day  by  day.  Try  experiments  and 
various  plans  to  gain  its  attention  in  such  directions  as  need 
cultivation,  and  away  from  such  as  are  undesirable  or  over- 
developed. 

If  it  develops  slowly  and  seems  to  be  stupid,  try  to  stimulate 
perception  in  various  ways,  and  note  progress.  In  a  word,  en- 
courage what  seems  latent  and  discourage  what  seems  too 
forward.  Endeavor  to  secure  a  balance  as  far  as  possible. 
Avoid  antagonism  whenever  possible.  The  creation  of  a  brutal 
fear  will  tend  to  rouse  brutal  antagonism — secrecy,  caution,, 
revenge,  etc.;  but  at  no  time  allow  it  to  win  in  a  controversy 
as  to  government.  If  diversion  cannot  be  obtained  after  it  is 
old  enough  to  know,  and  restraint  becomes  necessary,  make  it 
effectual  with  as  little  pain  as  possible,  and  continue  it  until 
there  is  compliance  :  attended,  however,  with  never  varying 


24  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

kindness.  Never  tire  of  watching,  and  never  urge  or  push  until 
fatigue  occurs  in  efforts  to  increase  perception  and  knowledge. 
Convey  lessons  in  play  and  amusements  as  soon  and  as  fast  as 
comprehension  permits.  Watch  and  care  for  physical  develop- 
ment in  the  same  way.  In  some  cases  the  mother's  milk  may 
disagree  and  fail  in  digestion  or  assimilation.  In  such  a  case 
procure  other  source  of  sustenance.  Some  children  will  bear 
solid  food  much  younger  than  others.  Some  organisms  are 
subject  to  electric  and  magnetic  influences  with  change  of  bar- 
mometer  and  thermometer,  affecting  both  physicical  and  men- 
tal organization  and  changing  the  character  and  development 
in  each.  Some  have  a  natural  appetite  for  some  special  diet, 
such  as  meat,  or  acids,  or  sweets,  and  reject  everything  else. 
Some  will  assimilate  what  they  crave  and  others  will  not,  but 
will  assimilate  what  they  reject  as  distasteful.  Some  are  easily 
•chilled,  others  are  full  of  sweat  glands  that  are  always  active. 
Some  will  bear  water  and  bathing,  others  will  not ;  and  in  a 
family  of  children  from  one  parentage  there  will  be  wide  differ- 
entiation. One  may  have  superior  intellectual  development 
and  inferior  animal  or  moral  development,  or  there  may  be 
precocity  in  one  direction,  as  to  mathematics,  drawing,  or 
music.  One  may  be  garrulous,  with  or  without  easy  flow  of 
language,  and  another  taciturn.  One  may  be  volatile,  another 
steady.  One  may  be  mean  and  vicious  in  every  way,  another 
kind  and  amiable.  In  such  cases  the  parents  are  unlike  in 
most  things,  but  the  differences  in  the  offspring  is  from  natural 
mental  organization,  constantly  increased  by  the  supply  of 
brain  and  nerve  tissue,  as  well  as  from  the  arrangement  and 
development  of  brain  ganglia. 

With  proper  training,  each  organism  can  be  improved  and 
brought  more  or  less  into  proper  balance.  If  left  to  itself  or 
improperly  trained,  it  is  plain  that  the  physical  and  mental 
•energy  will  be  just  such  as  the  organism  will  generate  ;  and  the 
mentalisms — the  outgrowths  and  impulses — will  be  such  as  that 
energy  produces.  Nature  is  alike  everywhere.  A  man  bought 
a  farm  having  an  orchard.  Originally,  nice  trees  of  the  best 
grafted  fruit  had  been  set  out,  and  they  had  been  left  to  take 
care  of  themselves.  No  attention  had  been  paid  to  soil,  feed- 
ing, or  trimming  of  roots  or  limbs.  When  in  the  way,  large 


PHYSICAL  AND   MENTAL   ENERGY.  25 

and  small  limbs  had  been  clipped  and  without  regard  to  the 
season  when  done ;  owing  to  this,  on  some,  water  sprouts  were 
thick,  on  others  rot  had  set  in.  Wind  had  leaned  some  of  them 
over.  Matured  as  it  was,  the  new  owner  took  it  in  hand. 
Where  trees  leaned,  he  trimmed  the  limbs  so  as  to  bring  the  top 
straight  over  the  roots  when  it  should  be  grown  out.  WTith 
others  he  removed  roots  on  the  side  that  grew  too  fast.  He 
removed  the  scabby  bark  and  washed  with  alkali.  He  gave 
the  soil  a  proper  dressing,  removed  water  sprouts  and  painted 
the  surface  where  all  large  branches  were  removed.  He  trim- 
med the  tops  out  thin  in  February,  and  the  wood  hardened 
before  the  sap  rose,  drying  up  instead  of  rotting.  In  a  few 
years  he  had  a  sightly  orchard  bearing  fruit ;  and  although  far 
from  being  what  it  might  have  been  made  with  attention  by 
the  former  owner  from  the  time  of  planting,  it  was  a  great 
improvement  on  the  dilapidated  wreck  he  began  on.  Some 
trees  were  past  all  recovery  and  these  were  cut  into  wood. 

His  case  was  like  that  of  a  prison  warden  or  governor  of  a 
reformatory,  except  that  the  latter's  stock  is  not  always  from 
good  origin.  The  physical  and  mental  energy  he  found,  (I 
use  the  words  advisedly — contending  for  conscious  intelligence 
in  matter),  he  put  in  the  best  shape  he  could  by  looking  at  the 
case  from  a  pathological  point  of  view,  giving  such  treatment 
as  the  case  permitted  and  watching  results. 

I  asserted  that  there  is  conscious  intelligence  in  matter,  and 
by  proper  use  of  our  own  intelligence  we  can  furnish  some  ele- 
ments where  needed  which  matter  will  intelligently  use  to  its 
own  and  our  benefit.  If  a  soil  has  become  sour  an  alkaline 
dressing  will  be  properly  used  by  it  in  producing  vegetation. 
Now  this  child  we  have  called  attention  to  comes  forward  to 
manhood  and  becomes  a  factor  for  good  or  ill,  depending  on 
all  these  chances  I  have  specified  or  alluded  to.  If  fortunate 
in  birth  and  nurture  it  will  be  likely  to  be  useful,  developing 
healthy  bodily  and  mental  energy.  If  unfortunate  in  either, 
it  may  become  the  source  of  physical  or  mental  evil,  or  of 
both.  There  is  drifting  in  among  the  body  of  the  people  a 
continual  flood  of  human  organisms,  the  results  of  no  design 
or  calculation,  or  of  preparation  or  care  for  them  before  or 
after  birth,  from  every  plane  on  which  humanity  moves  or  is 


26  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

found ;  and  the  great  mass  are  the  result  of  mere  animal  indul- 
gence. When  born,  with  the  kindly  and  loving  parents  they 
are  treated  as  pets  and  dolls.  The  idea  of  organization,  of 
physical  and  mental  formation  and  energy,  is  unthought  of  ex- 
cept in  case  of  visible  malformation,  and  then  only  in  a  purely 
mechanical  sense.  Ambition  to  have  them  appear  smart,  with 
some  induces  a  senseless  forcing  process,  and  when  grown  the 
putting  of  them  into  a  line  of  business  for  which  they  are  in  no 
way  adapted.  Such  an  idea  as  the  study  of  mental  pathology 
is  never  conceived,  much  less  born  and  cultivated.  Where  the 
parents  are  unloving  or  brutal,  a  mere  animal  life  is  lived  and 
energy  of  both  body  and  brain  finds  its  source  in  the  impulses 
and  acts  generated  from  such  conditions. 

In  proportion  to  the  numbers  in  each,  as  many  and  perhaps 
more  ill-balanced  mentalities  come  from  among  the  well-to-do 
classes  than  from  those  on  a  lower  plane  financially.  Want  of 
harmony  in  everything  between  the  progenitors,  and  want  of 
proper  nurture  and  guidance  during  early  development  and 
during  adolescent  growth,  produce  the  orchard  referred  to  ;  and 
the  prison  wardens,  under  the  most  impractical  legal  provisions, 
and  supervision  of  inexperienced  directors,  are  charged  with 
the  duties  of  humane  restraint  and  expected  to  work  reforma- 
tions, beginning  with  the  gnarled,  knotty,  misshapen  and  ill- 
grown  creatures  where  parents  and  guardians  should  have  be- 
gun before  and  after  birth ;  prepare  for  them,  and  when  born, 
nurture,  train,  guide,  and  restrain  them  properly. 

The  law  and  its  administrators  could  spend  brains,  time  and 
money  to  advantage  in  providing  for  restraints,  prohibitions 
and  qualifications  relating  to  those  who  would  become  parents, 
with  better  results  and  more  public  benefits  than  in  permitting 
unbridled  license,  and  then  providing  restraints,  prohibitions 
and  conditions  for  the  ill-starred  offspring  of  that  license  after 
they  have  become  physical  and  mental  crystallizations  de- 
structive of  the  public  order. 

To  the  development  of  healthy  physical  and  mental  energy, 
harmony  in  the  progenitors  of  all  the  forces  necessary,  is  a 
pre-requisite.  We  cannot  "  gather  grapes  from  thorns,  nor  figs 
from  thistles."  Neither  union  or  harmony  can  be  secured  by 
forcing  a  contact  between  inharmonious  elements. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THEOLOGY. 

IN  the  name  of  Christian  theology  the  great  body  of  reform- 
ers claim  that  there  can  be  no  reform  of  criminals  without 
a  belief  in  the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  through  faith  in  the 
saving  influences  of  His  crucifixion. 

Theology — a  science  of  God — is  and  must  be  based  on 
hypothesis,  in  a  strictly  scientific  sense.  Science  is  demon- 
strated truth — actual  knowledge.  Strictly,  science  is  based  on 
known  facts  and  principles,  which  are  used  theoretically  to 
deduce  other  facts  and  principles.  Hypothesis  assumes  facts 
and  principles  and  on  that  proceeds  to  deduction.  If  we 
assume  the  biblical  history  to  be  true,  to  be  a  revelation  to 
man  by  God,  we  have  assumed  facts  to  build  on  and  thence 
deduce  conclusions  and  build  up  theology.  If  we  look  upon 
the  works  of  nature,  see  a  design,  believe  there  must  have 
been  a  designer,  and  believe  that  designer  to  be  God,  we 
assume  there  is  a  God,  and  from  known  facts  and  principles  in 
connection  with  Nature  seek  to  deduce  a  scientific  demonstra- 
tion. Both  foundations  are  based  on  faith ,  one  sustained  by 
revelation,  taken  as  such  by  faith,  the  other  on  the  hypothesis 
that  there  is  a  designer  and  he  must  be  God. 

A  theory  may  be  founded  on  facts  that  agree  with  it  and  be 
deductively  established.  It  is  a  theory  because  it  agrees  with 
its  environment.  Theology  is  purely  a  deductive  science. 
All  theories  formed  must  be  based  on  hypothesis.  No  real 
induction  can  be  applied  to  it.  The  nearest  we  can  come  to 
known  facts  on  which  to  base  a  theory  is,  by  assuming  that  a 
consciousness  attends  on  every  sane  intelligent  mind,  that 
there  is  an  intelligence  somewhere,  higher  than  our  own,  and 
as  there  are  forces  in  nature  that  operate  as  if  guided  by 
intelligence,  that  are  infinite  in  power  compared  with  any  we 
can  produce,  their  origin  and  end  unknown  to  us  and  it  is 

27 


28  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

beyond  our  ability  to  ascertain,  therefore,  they  are  created 
by  an  infinite  intelligence  which  exists. 

Theologians  confound  theology,  religion  and  Christianity. 
Theology,  confounded  with  religion  and  called  Christianity,  is 
brought  into  the  prison  question,  and  occupies  a  large  field  in 
the  views  and  efforts  to  regulate  prisons,  prescribe  punishment 
and  effect  reforms  in  convicts.  An  extended  examination  of 
the  subject  is  imperative,  and  in  the  space  permitted  here  it 
must  be  somewhat  discursive.  There  is  no  design  to  prove  or 
disprove  the  existence  of  a  Deity,  but  to  treat  of  the  subject 
as  a  factor  in  the  prison  question. 

Man  sees  the  exhibitions  of  force  in  nature  around  him 
beyond  his  strength,  and  beyond  his  comprehension  as  to  its 
cause.  He  connects  it  with  the  existence  of  a  personal  power 
and  stands  in  fear  of  it.  This  is  a  fact  applying  to  all  races  of 
men. 

Next,  there  is  a  desire  to  live  somewhere  after  death  here. 
Man  connects  space  and  the  universe  of  matter  as  far  as  he 
can  see  and  comprehend  it  with  that  Being,  and  from  that  come 
his  ideas  of  eternity,  or  what  he  calls  endless  time  compared 
with  life  here.  That  desire  to  live  hereafter,  and  the  fear  of 
this  unknown  and  incomprehensible  Being  of  his  own  creation, 
bring  acts  which  we  call  worship  ;  and  this  is  also  common  to 
all  races  in  some  form,  visible  or  invisible.  The  two  together 
— the  ideas  formed  of  the  relation  to  that  Being  and  the  ideas 
as  to  the  proper  way  to  recognize  the  existence  of  and  treat 
that  Being  in  thought  and  act,  with  a  view  to  secure  through 
Him  life  beyond  the  grave,  make  up  in  each  person  what  we 
call  religion  ;  and  on  this,  like  minds  get  together  in  groups 
or  "  religious  congregations." 

Some  minds  find  no  place  where  they  can  rest ;  no  set  of 
ideas  with  which  they  are  content ;  speculation,  doubt  and 
change  of  opinions  affect  them  from  time  to  time  ;  hence,  the 
great  numbers  of  creeds,  and  religions  and  modes  of  worship 
on  one  hand,  and  so-called  atheism,  agnosticism  and  material- 
ism on  the  other.  Those  easily  satisfied  are  the  religious 
optimists.  Those  dissatisfied  are  the  pessimists. 

Who  and  what  this  Being  is,  where  He  is,  how  He  works, 
and  all  that  relates  to  Him  and  His  attributes  is  called 


THEOLOGY.  29 

theology  —  the  science  of  God.  It  is  founded  on  opinion, 
and  that  opinion  is  itself  founded  on  opinion  ;  thus — opinion 
first  that  such  a  Being  exists  as  a  personal  Being,  and  next, 
opinion  as  to  what  He  is  and  His  attributes,  our  relations, 
duties,  etc.  This,  like  an  inference  from  an  inference,  proves 
nothing  positively,  while  an  inference  from  a  fact  may  have 
the  force  of  fact.  If  a  man  be  found  dead  with  the  marks  of 
a  left  hand  on  his  left  hand,  we  may  infer  they  were  made  by 
some  other  person  than  himself,  because  it  is  an  inference  from 
a  fact ;  but  we  could  not  infer  that  they  were  made  by  any 
particular  person  who  had  a  left  hand,  that  being  only  an  infer- 
ence from  an  inference.  Science  deals  with  facts.  If,  from 
what  we  know,  we  form  an  opinion,  and  by  facts  can  induct- 
ively establish  it,  we  may  infer  other  facts  deductively  from 
that  opinion. 

I  said  God  exists  as  a  personal  Being  to  those  who  believe 
in  Him,  because  the  attempt  to  comprehend  this  Being  as  a 
"  spirit,  without  body,  parts  or  passions"  amounts  to  verbiage 
only.  Man  cannot  conceive  of  an  active  intelligence  without 
a  form,  and  he  cannot  conceive  of  a  form  higher  than  his  own. 
Nor  can  he  conceive  of  this  Being  called  God  without  giving 
Him  human  attributes — calling  them  infinite,  without  limit, 
because  he  cannot  conceive  of  any  intelligence  higher  than  his 
own.  Therefore,  whether  admitted  or  not,  God,  to  every 
person  who  thinks  of  Him,  is  a  personal  Being. 

Strictly  speaking,  Christianity  in  practice  has  nothing  to  do 
with  either  theology  or  religion.  Jesus  Christ  was  a  person 
who  laid  down  certain  rules  to  live  by.  He  promised  eternal 
life  to  those  who  observed  those  rules  and  adopted  them  in 
practice  in  their  intercourse  with  their  fellow-man.  Before  his 
time  the  kingdom  of  force  had  existed  as  the  rule:  "An  eye 
for  an  eye,  and  a  tooth  for  a  tooth."  He  taught  that  the  true 
rule  was  to  live  as  a  brotherhood.  He  told  of  a  kingdom  of 
Heaven,  but  it  began  on  earth  by  building  up  a  kingdom  of 
love  in  each  soul  in  place  of  a  kingdom  of  force.  For  disci- 
ples who  were  to  promulgate  these  new  rules  of  life,  He  required 
them  to  add  the  practice  of  non-resistance  ;  and  for  all  men  to 
do  as  they  would  like  to  be  done  by  under  the  same  circum- 
stances. He  gave  many  instructions  to  His  chosen  disciples 


30  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

that  were  not  intended  for  mankind  generally,  but  modern 
theology  treats  them  as  if  addressed  to  each  individual.  The 
most  enlightened  person,  the  most  ignorant  one,  the  semi- 
civilized  or  the  barbarian  must  be  wiser,  better  and  happier, 
the  nearer  his  life  is  guided  by  these  rules.  This  kind  of  life 
would  ensure  another  life  hereafter,  in  the  presence  of  a 
Superior  Being.  To  those  who  believed  and  practiced  it  it 
could  be  called  a  religion  ;  but  if  a  man  was  an  atheist  and 
practiced  these  rules  he  would  be  a  Christian.  A  practice  of 
them  and  not  simply  a  belief  in  them  constitutes  Christianity. 
The  theologian  gives  Christ  divine  attributes  and  so  seeks  to 
make  Christianity  a  part  of  theology ;  while  a  man  may  be 
practically  a  Christian  who  never  heard  of  Christ. 

The  universe  of  matter  operates  and  moves  by  reaction. 
All  progress  is  in  reaction.  Natural  laws  are  uniform  and 
maintain  equilibrium.  Certain  elements  make  an  acid,  others 
make  an  alkali.  United  in  certain  proportions,  they  combine, 
neutralize  each  other,  part  escapes  in  gas,  and  the  residue  forms 
a  neutral  salt,  each  a  base  for  future  combinations.  Nothing 
is  lost.  All  progress  is  permanent,  whether  toward  a  higher  or 
lower  plane  and  until  new  forces  change  conditions.  Intellect- 
ual progress  upward  or  downward,  forms  no  exception  ;  what 
is  gained  in  one  direction  is  lost  in  another,  constant  change 
and  constant  re-adjustment  making  up  the  sum  of  evolution, 
and  it  is  constant  and  eternal  throughout  the  universe. 

Neither  scientist  or  savage  is  or  can  be  free  from  the  con- 
sciousness of  force  in  nature  superior  to  all  he  knows  or  can 
imagine.  As- far  as  we  go  down  with  the  microscope  we  find 
perfect  organization,  adaptation  and  fixed  laws.  When  we 
come  up  to  ourselves  in  the  range  of  animal  life,  we  reach  the 
end  of  investigation.  We  can  find  nothing  higher  or  more 
perfect.  We  meet  the  mysteries  of  life  and  death  all  through 
our  search,  from  lowest  to  highest,  and  we  cannot  solve  those 
mysteries.  We  go  out  into  space  with  the  telescope,  the  spec- 
troscope and  the  camera,  and  as  far  as  we  can  get  we  find  per- 
fect order,  perfect  law,  and,  so  far  as  we  can  discover,  the  same 
elements,  causes  and  effects  we  find  here.  We  could  not  dis- 
cover any  other  if  they  existed,  because  we  cannot  know  any 
other  only  as  we  discover  and  learn  them  here.  For  all  we 


THEOLOGY.  3! 

know,  the  range  of  life  may  go  on  upward  to  infinity  after  it 
passes  us  and  our  knowledge.  The  air  and  space  may  be  filled 
with  beings  we  cannot  discover  and  know  in  our  present  condi- 
tion— proceeding  upward  in  intelligence  and  power,  in  regular 
gradation,  as  life  proceeds  from  the  protoplasm  to  us.  Or, 
from  aught  we  know,  a  new  series  of  strata,  or  an  ascending 
grade  may  begin  of  aerial,  ethereal  life,  each  fitted  to  its  sphere  ; 
and  there  may  be  a  plane  on  which  our  own  intelligent  energy 
may  live  and  act  hereafter.  In  time,  communication  may  take 
place  between  us  and  that  plane  above.  While  to  our  finite 
perceptions  the  probabilities  of  it  may  seem  about  equal  to 
intelligent  communication  between  the  protoplasmic  forms  and 
ourselves,  it  is  not  impossible  that  a  higher  plane  exists  for  our 
own  intelligence  in  another  form,  and  that  mediums  of  com- 
munication may  exist,  as  we  see  them  in  material  existence, 
and  designate  them  by  the  name  of  "substantial  immaterial 
force.''  While  in  my  opinion  there  can  be  no  such  thing  as 
an  immaterial  force — as  I  shall  try  to  demonstrate  hereafter — I 
use  the  definition  to  convey  the  idea  of  the  invisible  and  as 
yet  unknowable. 

I  repeat  that  plane  after  plane,  and  stage  after  stage  of  life 
and  intelligence  may  exist,  almost  infinitely,  and  there  may  be 
one  Being  in  some  form  at  the  head,  co-existent  and  consistent 
with  it  all,  as  we  find  beings  co-existent  and  consistent  with 
each  plane  as  far  as  our  knowledge  of  life  reaches.  But  we 
are  left  to  imagination  and  .speculation  when  we  try  to  pass 
beyond  ourselves  and  the  boundaries  of  our  own  knowledge. 

We  see  perfect  design  and  we  may  say  there  can  be  no  de- 
sign without  a  designer;  but  in  that  design  we  find  no  two 
things  alike.  There  is  eternal  and  unexceptional  variation  as 
far  as  knowledge  takes  us.  We  find  universal  force  and  we 
may  say  it  always  existed.  Who  can  deny  it  other  than  by 
assertion?  Passing  beyond  ourselves  and  left  to  imagination 
and  speculation,  surrounded  by  active  life  of  which  we  are  a 
part,  we  see  that  life  cease  and  decomposition  follow  in  some 
of  those  around  us.  The  longing  to  live,  to  resurrect  that  life, 
to  be  once  more  active,  carries  the  imagination  out  into  space 
as  far  as  we  can  go,  and  we  people  it  somewhere  with  a  new 
life  ;  always  human  in  form,  always  human  in  action,  always 


32  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

clothed  with  exalted  human  attributes ;  always  coming  back  to 
us  because  we  are  in  doubt  and  want  proof — tangible  proof — 
that  it  is  there.  The  insoluble  mystery  of  life,  the  intangibility 
of  thought,  the  invisibility  of  mind,  are  seized  on  as  means  to 
create  proofs  and  we  form  an  opinion.  One  dreams,  and  to 
his  mind  it  is  evidence  and  with  him  opinion  becomes  belief. 
Another  looks  on  a  cataleptic,  who  seems  to  see  through  the 
skull  and  describes  things  at  a  distance  correctly,  as  he  would 
see  through  a  glass  and  describe  things  present,  and  to  him  it 
is  proof  of  the  supernatural,  and  his  opinion  becomes  belief  in 
the  supernatural.  Another  sees  or  hears  things  he  cannot  com- 
prehend, and  to  him  they  are  supernatural  and  he  forms  an 
opinion,  and  without  other  evidence  than  want  of  explanation 
he  calls  his  opinion  belief. 

Great  learning  and  powers  of  reasoning  never  exist  in  per- 
fection in  any  person.  Limited  boundaries  of  knowledge  and 
narrow  powers  of  reasoning  exist  in  the  large  majority  of  man- 
kind. Weak  places  exist  somewhere  in  every  intellect,  and 
they  are  filled  by  means  as  various  as  are  the  situations  of 
men.  A  learned  lawyer  may  believe  in  ghosts,  or  visible  spirits,. 
as  in  the  case  of  Judge  Edmunds  and  Robert  Dale  Owen.  A 
great  scientist  may  dread  to  upset  his  salt  dish.  A  profound 
philosopher  may  be  afraid  to  ride  on  a  railroad  or  to  start  on  a 
journey  on  Friday.  These  weak  places  are  filled  to  a  greater 
or  less  extent  by  impressions  created  by  the  surroundings  of 
the  individual  and  from  sources  he  has  no  hand  in  making.  He 
does  not  form  his  own  brain  at  first,  or  supply  the  food  that 
makes  nerve  and  brain  matter,  nor  teach  himself  his  first 
ideas,  nor  acquire  by  his  own  efforts  his  first  knowledge  of 
facts.  The  impressions  made  on  him  by  his  early  environment 
and  teaching  are  never  wholly  eradicated.  The  impressions 
made  about  God,  religion,  and  future  existence  are  insepara- 
ble from  his  after  life,  no  matter  what  conclusion  he  finally 
reaches. 

The  filling  of  these  waste  or  weak  places— those  not  filled 
and  hardened  by  knowledge  of  actual  facts  after  the  individual 
becomes  matured — constitutes  the  opinions  and  beliefs  making 
up  the  various  religions,  denominations  and  creeds,  and  the 
various  grades  of  belief  among  spiritualists.  These  places  are 


THEOLOGY.  33 

the  lodging  places  of  superstition.  Among  the  great  mass  they 
are  large  and  numerous.  Among  the  learned  they  are  less  so 
or  less  crude.  Among  the  scientific  they  may  not  be  obtrusive,, 
but  they  exist — and  certainly  as  the  homes  of  doubt  if  no 
more. 

A  child  is  born  and  is  a  mere  animal  without  mind.  It  grows 
and  is  taught,  and  with  knowledge  of  things  coming  through 
the  senses  comes  mind.  It  reaches  manhood  and  dies,  and  the 
mind  seems  to  die  with  it,  so  far  as  we  can  see  here.  What  was 
the  mind?  That  has  been  the  inquiry  of  mankind  from  the 
earliest  dawn  of  history.  All  we  know  is.  it  came  with  growth 
of  the  body  and  knowledge  acquired  through  the  bodily  senses, 
and  it  had  no  cognizance  of  anything  beyond  that.  Was  it  the 
seed  or  germ  to  create  a  new  mind  to  be  perfected  somewhere 
else,  or  was  it  a  part  of  the  universal  energy  converted  into 
mind  force  by  the  operations  of  matter,  as  demonstrated 
through  the  physical  organisms  of  the  human  body?  We 
don't  know.  But  in  experience  we  find  innumerable  cases 
where  mind  meets  mind,  and  mind  matter — so  to  speak — ^n 
different  persons  mingles  together.  A  few  years  ago  in  Penn- 
sylvania, a  farmer  sent  his  son  on  a  two  days'  journey  to  a  city, 
with  a  team,  some  property,  and  money.  On  the  night  of  the 
day  he  started,  the  farmer  dreamed  that  the  son  was  attacked  at 
a  place  he  saw  in  his  dream,  but  had  not  seen  before,  was  robbed, 
and  called  to  him  for  help.  He  awoke,  and  was  so  impressed 
that  he  took  to  the  road  and  followed  on,  and  at  the  end  of  his 
first  day's  journey  he  came  to  the  place  and  found  the  place 
and  the  facts  as  he  had  seen  them  in  his  dream. 

Recently,  in  Iowa,  a  lady  dreamed  that  an  accident  had 
happened  to  her  sister  wrho  was  in  Hot  Springs,  Arkansas. 
She  saw  the  party  present,  carriages,  horses  and  surroundings, 
but  had  never  been  there.  She  wrote  to  her  sister,  giving 
details  and  description  in  full.  She  had  never  seen  the  persons 
or  places.  The  accident  happened  exactly  as  she  described  it 
as  to  persons,  places  and  results. 

I  am  sitting  in  my  room.  Some  one  I  have  no  reason  to 
expect  appears  to  my  mind  to  be  coming,  to  be  at  the  gate  ; 
and  presently  the  door  opens  and  they  enter.  I  feel  it  all  and 
yet  there  was  nothing  I  know  of  to  make  me  think  they  were 


34  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

coming.  Like  cases  are  common  to  most  persons.  People 
foretell  close  coming  events  in  which  the  elements  are  already 
at  work,  and  not  by  process  of  reasoning.  Loss  of  life  at  sea, 
and  death  in  battle,  are  known  to  others  hundreds  of  miles 
away  at  the  time  they  occur. 

Mind  has  certain  sympathies  and  repulsions,  or,  when  acted 
on  attracts  or  repels  ;  as  if  it  were  material  and  its  atoms  acted 
on  other  mind  atoms,  under  certain  conditions.  Its  phenomena 
being  seen,  and  being  apparently  unexplainable,  and  not  be- 
ing understood,  the  imagination,  tempered  by  former  impress-" 
ions  lying  in  these  places  not  filled  by  actual  knowledge,  to 
which  I  have  alluded,  soars  away  into  the  regions  of  the  super- 
natural to  find  a  solution,  and  closes  on  all  it  sees  that  is  unex- 
plainable as  evidence  that  the  mind  is  a  deathless  soul,  that  it 
will  have  life  hereafter  ;  that  there  is  another  world  for  us  and 
a  great  personal  ruler  ;  and  it  rests  in  content  in  a  hope  of 
that  life. 

It  is  said  of  Orestes  A.  Brownson — a  man  of  brains  and  fine 
literary  acquirements — that  he  went  the  round  of  the  Protes- 
tant churches  and  beliefs,  listening,  reading,  reasoning  and  spec- 
ulating, and  longing  for  rest,  but  found  none.  He  dropped  into 
the  Roman  Catholic  church  and  let  that  think  for  him,  and 
died  in  peace.  Why  ?  Because  it  was  a  systematic  belief,  prac- 
tical and  material  in  all  of  its  details  of  outward  observance, 
mysterious  enough  in  its  symbolisms  to  satisfy  his  curiosity, 
and  had  a  perfect  government,  all  of  which  harmonized  with 
his  peculiar  mentality.  Another  mind,  equally  wise  but  differ- 
ently developed,  takes  what  contented  him — the  Catholic  faith 
— as  evidence  of  bigoted  tyranny  and  bloodthirsty  intolerance. 

All  religious  beliefs  are  intolerant.  No  religion  can  exist 
unless  it  be  intolerant.  A  man  forms  an  opinion  and  sends  the 
imagination  into  the  realms  of  the  mysterious  for  evidence, 
finds  something  that  coincides  with  his  opinion,  takes  it  as  evi- 
dence and  so  forms  a  belief.  His  mentality — that  is,  his  mental 
organization  and  the  impressions  made  upon  it — develops  such 
perceptions  as  cause  him  to  see  and  accept  that  something  as 
evidence,  and  this  belief  becomes  the  mentalism— or  outgrowth 
— of  those  perceptions.  Others  of  like  mentalism  unite  with 
him.  They  confirm  themselves  in  the  conclusion  that  they  are 


THEOLOGY.  35 

right.  They  reject  all  that  disproves  their  conclusion.  They 
become  impatient  of  question  and  will  not  tolerate  contradic- 
tion. Unlike  scientists,  they  search  for  all  that  will  sustain 
them  and  ignore  all  that  refutes  them.  Christianity  comes  in 
and  teaches  charity,  the  law  prohibits  force,  and  the  variety  of 
beliefs — all  combined — prevent  intolerance  from  becoming  ag- 
gressive. The  Protestant  churches  on  one  side  divided  into 
many  congregations,  are  held  in  balance  by  the  Roman  Catholic 
united  as  a  whole  under  a  perfect  government  on  the  other, 
and  toleration  exists  between.  But  each  fails  to  find  rest  for 
all  who  unite  with  them  severally ;  and  the  wanderers,  those 
who  fail  to  find  rest,  organize  schisms  and  secessions,  form  new 
opinions,  and  new  beliefs  spring  up.  For  others  spiritism  and 
free  love  afford  a  rest ;  for  others  still,  materialism  and  agnosti- 
cism and  atheism  afford  temporary  content.  What  looks  like 
evidence  to  one  mind  is  none  at  all  to  another.  The  degree  of 
intelligence  or  social  position  of  the  believers  have  little  to  do 
with  it.  All  depends  on  the  mentality,  and  that  depends  on 
the  mental  organization  and  the  impressions  that  have  been 
made  upon  it.  Ignorance  will  seize  on  a  desirable  hope  where 
intelligence  will  pause  to  inquire ;  but  in  emotional  tempera- 
ments both  alike  will  follow  a  pleasing  idea  without  inquiry. 
Vice  will  adopt  a  belief  that  offers  a  chance  for  progress  hereaf- 
ter without  restraint  here,  that  intelligence  or  ascetic  morality 
will  reject  as  inconsistent  with  justice.  An  intelligent  person 
"who  is  of  an  emotional  nature  and  given  to  true  marvelous  may 
be  as  prone  to  superstitions  as  ignorance  itself,  and  yield  to 
some  of  them  against  reason  and  better  knowledge.  The  ner- 
vous and  the  sanguine  will  seize  on  a  comfortable  and  easy  be- 
lief, while  the  ascetic  and  the  sceptical  will  reject  it  because  it 
is  so. 

The  constant  widening  of  the  field  of  scientific  discovery  has 
changed  the  views  of  many  theologians,  and  to-day  the  sermons 
of  the  Rev.  Lyman  Beecher  would  not  find  a  ready  response  in 
one  of  the  congregations  that  hung  delighted  on  the  utterances 
of  his  son,  the  late  Henry  Ward  Beecher.  The  communicants 
and  churchgoers  include  a  minority  only  of  the  people,  and  of 
these  a  majority  are  females.  Of  the  numbers  that  come  under 
prison  restraint  but  few  ever  attend  religious  service,  and  for 


36  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

them  theology  has  no  attractions.  With  those  who  fall  from 
good  position  to  the  place  of  convicts — and  it  includes  some  of 
high  intelligence  and  religious  profession — all  theological  learn- 
ing and  influence  have  failed  as  a  restraining  force  ;  and  where 
not  worn  by  them  as  a  cloak  to  hide  evil  designs,  it  has  made 
no  impressions  with  strength  sufficient  to  counteract  tempta- 
tion. In  other  words,  the  moral  governing  force  was  not 
adapted  to  the  animal  motive  power  and  intellectual  working 
machinery ;  and  if  again  sought  to  be  used  as  a  governor  by 
stimulating  into  activity  in  the  prison,  will  be  likely  to  again 
prove  its  want  of  adaptation ;  either  from  want  of  acuteness  of 
moral  perception,  or  the  overbearing  force  of  the  animal  im- 
pulses. (The  reader  must  not  construe  this  word  "  animal " 
impulses  to  refer  alone  to  the  idea  of  sex.  It  refers  to  personal 
gratification  in  any  respect  other  than  intellectual:  personal 
desires,  wants,  pride,  ambition,  appetites.)  If  the  mentality  of 
the  individual  is  of  such  a  character  that  the  deductions  of 
theologians  as  presented  in  the  prisons  take  hold  of  the  mind 
of  the  convict  and  build  up  a  hope  through  and  fear  of 
God  as  to  a  life  hereafter,  and  the  impressions  made  are  such 
as  become  permanent,  as  a  factor  in  reform  theology  will  aid  in 
strengthening  the  moral  force  as  a  regulating  part  of  the  men- 
tal machinery.  Otherwise,  it  will  be  lost  labor.  It  is  plain  to 
be  seen  that,  a  body  of  men  and  women  in  prison  are  not  men- 
tally different  from  the  same  persons  out.  Socially,  there  is 
this  difference  and  no  other :  in  prison  they  can  be  corraled 
and  made  to  listen,  which  cannot  be  done  outside.  But  how 
effectually  they  can  be  reached  by  theological  teaching  and 
discussion,  in  view  of  all  the  facts  as  they  exist,  is  a  problem 
that  can  be  solved  only  by  individual  experiment.  As  a  whole 
it  is  insoluble.  Reasoning  from  analogy,  we  might  be  justified 
in  believing  it  would  be  no  more  effectual  in  prison  than  it  is 
out. 

As  commonly  understood,  it  is  a  misnomer  to  speak  of  the 
convicts  as  "  the  crime  class."  Convicts  come  from  every  class 
among  men  ;  and  many  come  from  among  those  who  are  well- 
to-do  in  the  world,  who  have  such  advantages  as  would  enable 
them  to  live  respectable  and  honest.  Crime  in  a  mental  sense 
exists  among  all  classes,  as  disease  does  in  a  physical  sense.. 


THEOLOGY.  37 

When  we  carry  theology  and  its  teachings  into  the  prisons  we 
enter  among  people  in  no  wise  different — so  far  as  the  outcome 
of  its  influence  is  concerned — from  those  in  the  community 
outside,  except  that  the  prisoners  are  under  restraint  and  dis- 
cipline while  those  outside  are  not. 

It  cannot  be  denied  that,  up  to  this  time  in  this  country,  the 
church  takes  the  place  of  a  standing  army  in  preserving  public 
order.  It  opens  an  outlet  for  the  emotional  impulses,  and  the 
zeal  of  a  certain  portion  of  the  people,  who,  but  for  that  outlet 
would  find  others,  requiring  physical  force  to  keep  them  in 
order.  There  is  an  element  in  all  animal  life — more  active  in 
man  because  of  his  intelligence — seldom  noticed  and  rarely  if 
ever  considered.  That  is,  a  constant  craving  for  artificial  ex- 
citement—that is  to  say,  some  created  excitement ;  some- 
thing that  does  not  arise  in  the  ordinary  channels  of  every- 
day life.  We  see  it  in  force  in  young  animals — the  kittens, 
the  dogs,  the  coyotes,  foxes,  and  all  others.  You  may  place  a 
baby  on  the  floor  and  surround  it  with  all  kinds  of  means  for 
amusement,  and  it  will  leave  them  and  crawl  off  after  some- 
thing else.  You  may  make  home  among  a  family  of  children 
as  attractive  as  it  can  be,  and  devise  evening  amusements,  and 
the  youths  in  it  will  slip  off  and  go  out  to  hunt  something  else. 
There  is  no  place  in  life  where  this  craving  does  not  exist,  and 
human  animals  would  be  non-progressive  without  it.  With 
mankind,  as  age  creeps  on,  this  craving  increases  as  the  years 
approach  and  enter  on  the  stage  of  manhood,  and  it  depends 
entirely  on  the  mental  and  physical  formation  and  the  individ- 
ual environment  what  character  it  will  assume  in  seeking  grati- 
fication and  in  manifestations.  Its  progress,  changes,  and  ulti- 
mate developments  will  depend  on  the  material  surroundings. 
In  all  cases  it  will  cling  to  that  which  affords  the  most  ready 
and  congenial  gratification,  that  most  in  harmony  with  the 
mental  impulses.  The  outlet  may  be  morbid,  or  vicious,  or 
reckless,  or  benevolent,  and  it  develops  in  endless  forms. 
The  missionary,  the  sister  of  charity,  the  voluntary  manager 
of  orphans'  homes,  kindergartens,  refuges  for  abandoned 
women,  etc.,  find  their  excitement  there.  The  trapper,  pio- 
neer, scout,  adventurer  and  explorer  find  theirs  in  the  wilds. 
The  believer  in  the  spiritual  and  supernatural  will  revel  in 


38  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

ghost  stories,  and  shudder  over  the  mysterious  and  horrible. 
The  revivalist  preacher,  who  can  drive  people  wild  with 
emotional  hope  and  fear,  and  the  people  he  affects,  are  only 
types  of  men  and  women  who,  under  different  environment  in 
early  life,  and  under  other  influences,  would  fall  into  the 
excitement  of  drink,  gossip,  narcotics,  and  various  kinds  of 
crime.  Some  have  done  so,  and  will  again. 

This  craving  is  universal  in  all  animal  life.  The  elephant's 
trunk  is  never  still,  and  the  unruly  cow  breaks  through  all 
enclosures.  Of  those  among  mankind  needing  restraint,  begin- 
ning with  the  one  who  gets  drunk,  and  is  otherwise  harmless, 
and  going  on  to  the  one  who  deliberately  steals  or  murders  on 
the  vicious  plane,  or  beginning  with  the  theological  enthusiast 
and  going  on  to  the  radical  reformer  and  the  bigotry  that 
burned  John  Rogers  and  Servetus,  on  the  so-called  moral  plane, 
it  is  always  present,  ever  active,  always  outward  in  all  phases 
of  life.  The  theologian1,  looking  to  the  origin,  calls  it  "  man's 
inherent  depravity."  It  is  immaterial  what  we  call  it,  while  it 
it  very  material  that  we  recognize  it  as  a  serious  fact  in  consid- 
ering the  prison  question. 

The  churches  afford  an  outlet  for  this  craving  to  a  minority; 
and  but  for  that,  garrisons  of  soldiers  would  be  required  to 
preserve  public  order.  Of  the  majority  the  larger  part  are 
kept  in  order  by  an  innate  love  of  order,  and  some  by  selfish 
considerations,  from  fear,  as  to  person  and  property,  with  no 
care  otherwise.  Some  fear  the  law  and  its  penalties,  and  so 
keep  order  while  no  other  idea  specially  restrains  them. 

Theology  ignores  these  facts  more  or  less  when  it  comes  to 
practice.  It  says  to  all :  "  You  must  believe  in  God  and  wor- 
ship Him,  or  there  is  no  chance  for  you  to  abandon  crime  life 
and  live  on  a  moral  or  orderly  plane."  Of  course,  that  will 
influence  only  such  as  have  the  kind  of  mind  that  conceives  of 
this  God  and  the  impulses  to  believe  in  and  worship  Him. 
That  being  only  the  minority,  as  an  element  for  reform  in  the 
prison  question,  its  field  of  action  is  limited,  and  in  the  end 
other  influences  must  be  relied  on  to  control,  reform  and 
dispose  of  convicts.  With  physical  force  we  can  accept  the 
aid  of  the  theologian,  but  theologians  themselves  must  enlarge 
their  views,  and  recognize  the  fact,  that  were  their  methods  and 


THEOLOGY.  39 

ideas  alone  to  be  carried  into  practice  there  would  be  a  failure. 
There  is  no  middle  ground  with  theology.  When  persuasion 
fails  there  is  no  power  left,  except  the  thumb-screws  and  the 
guillotine.  A  man  who  does  not  understand  your  language 
cannot  respond  to  you.  A  man  whose  mentality  cannot  grasp 
your  theological  conclusions  can  have  neither  opinion  nor 
belief  in  harmony  with  them.  If  he  cannot  grasp  any  theolog- 
ical view  he  is  a  born  materialist  and  cannot  be  influenced  by 
anything  theology  can  give  him,  unless  his  mentality  can  be  so 
changed  by  education  as  to  bring  into  activity  the  latent 
elements  that  will  seek  an  outlet  through  the  supernatural, 
the  combination  of  brain  ganglia  that  brings  reverence,  benevo- 
lence, conscientiousness,  love  of  approbation,  self-esteem,  hope, 
marvelousness  and  fear  of  the  unknown  acting  together  as  a 
moral  force. 

Whatever  may  be  urged  before  us  that  is  incomprehensible 
by  us  as  presented,  we  are  compelled  to  shape,  measure  and 
make  perceptible  by  forms  and  comparisons  of  and  with  which 
we  have  knowledge  through  the  senses.  No  one  mind  can 
form  or  shape  an  image  and  describe  it  in  words  so  another 
mind  can  mentally  see  and  comprehend  it  exactly  as  it  appears 
to  the  mind  that  creates  or  describes  it.  For  this  reason  there 
can  be  no  absolutely  fixed  standard  of  right  and  wrong.  All 
standards  are  arbitrary  and  temporary.  Each  age  and  each 
nation  and  community  has  its  own  ;  they  are  not  alike,  and  are 
constantly  changing.  The  theologian  erects  a  standard  called 
conscience  and  declares  it  to  be  a  supernatural  perception 
coming  from  God,  inherent  in  each  person.  Experience 
teaches  us  that  this  conscience  is  only  a  human  conclusion 
depending  on  the  perception  of  the  individual,  and  his  percep- 
tion depends  on  his  brains,  his  environment  and  his  education. 
Even  the  believers  in  conscience  are  not  able  to  adhere  to  it 
and  guide  all  their  actions  by  it  alike,  and  are  constantly 
changing  it.  As  yet,  superstition — measured  by  this  standard 
— is  as  necessary  to  control  some  minds  as  strong  walls  are  to 
control  some  bodies.  "  What  a  man  loves,  that  he  wills  to  do," 
says  Swedenborg.  In  fact,  a  man's  acts  are  governed  by  his 
opinions,  and  his  opinions  are  the  outgrowth  of  his  mental- 
ity and  environment,  and  they  are  dependent  on  conditions 


40  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

over  which  he  has  no  control  in  his  earlier  life.  The  standards 
of  Talmadge,  or  Ingersoll,  or  Victoria  Woodhull  would  not 
have  been  listened  to  a  century  ago.  Now  they  command 
large  audiences.  Such  is  the  difference  in  that  decade  and 
this  one.  The  Mosaic  standard  was  repudiated  by  Christ — 
saying  he  came  to  fulfill  the  law.  The  lex  talionis  had  been 
the  rule.  For  this  he  laid  down  the  law  of  brotherhood  and 
forgiveness.  The  radical  Mohamedan  is  right  in  his  conscience 
when  he  slays  a  hated  Gaiour,  and  the  cannibal  king  is  right  in 
his  when  he  knocks  a  fat  young  native  in  the  head  and  pre- 
sents the  carcass  to  you  for  your  dinner,  as  the  highest 
compliment  he  can  pay  you.  By  the  Christian  conscience 
both  would  be  murderers.  The  Episcopalian  priest  will  preach 
in  no  pulpit  except  that  of  his  own  church.  The  Roman 
Catholic  says  he  is  no  priest.  The  ancient  Roman  took  the 
life  of  his  wife,  child  or  servant  at  his  pleasure.  His  successor 
declares  it  murder.  It  is  not  long  since  we  hung  the  man  who 
killed  the  seducer  of  his  wife ;  to-day,  while  the  statute 
remains  unchanged,  the  standard  as  held  up  in  the  jury-box 
condemns  the  statute  and  approves  the  killing.  Seventy  years 
ago  the  preacher  kept  a  bottle  convenient  and  refreshed 
himself  with  a  dram  after  his  three  hours'  service  in  the  pulpit ; 
to-day  the  service  and  the  bottle  would  not  be  permitted.  It 
is  useless  to  multiply  instances,  the  truth  is  patent  to  the  most 
casual  observer. 

Because  of  the  absence  of  any  fixed  standard,  and  because 
of  the  different  standards  and  the  continual  changes  in  them, 
much  Indifference  exists  in  the  minds  of  those  criminally 
inclined  as  to  any  consideration  of  right  or  wrong;  and  the 
most  of  them  hold  the  law  and  its  penalties  in  more  or  less 
contempt  so  far  as  they  are  proposed  as  a  means  of  moral 
reform,  because  of  the  uncertainty  and  inequality  as  to  inflic- 
tion of  penalties.  And,  again,  when  they  see  the  law  itself 
perpetrating  injustice  in  various  ways;  for  instance,  permitting 
wholesale  gambling  on  the  board  of  trade  while  a  wager  on 
cards  or  billiards  is  made  a  crime;  or  in  robbery  by  corpo- 
rations and  the  conspiracy  of  combines,  while  deceit  and  op- 
pression by  individuals  is  punished  as  criminal;  the  evils  and 
robbery  from  legislation  in  favor  of  one  class  and  against  all 


THEOLOGY.  41 

others,  while  false  pretenses  by  a  person  is  made  felony ;  and  in 
many  other  ways  that  can  be  named ;  they  take  a  sort  of  pride 
in  defying  the  law,  and  exult  in  every  successful  effort  to 
defeat  it.  As  long  as  such  conditions  exist,  the  foothold  for 
theological  influence,  as  a  means  to  effect  reform  of  convicts, 
will  be  extremely  narrow. 

The  Jewish  history,  as  recorded  in  the  Bible  is  a  theological 
history.  The  theologians,  claiming  to  be  inspired  directly  by 
God  Himself,  speaking  as  His  ministers  and  inspired  prophets, 
labored  for  hundreds  of  years  to  establish  and  maintain  order 
and  morality.  But  the  people  divided,  and  vacillated  and 
alternated  in  adherence  to  one  of  two  gods,  Yahweh  (Jehovah) 
and  Baal,  and  finally  went  to  destruction  as  a  nation.  They 
were  scattered  over  the  whole  known  world,  a  people  without 
a  country,  and  became  the  persecuted  of  all  nations,  countries 
and  peoples.  Adhering  to  certain  of  the  laws  their  theolo- 
gians had  given  them,  they  dwindled  and  diminished  in 
numbers  until  they  counted  not  over,  or  less,  than  five  millions 
of  people.  It  was  not  until  the  civilization  that  followed  the 
overturning  of  the  domination  of  priestcraft  under  the  Chris- 
tian faith,  and  the  reformation  in  the  Jewish  laws  relating  to 
purification,  that  the  Jews  began  to  increase  in  numbers,  and 
in  the  western  nations  of  Europe  to  be  accorded  civil  rights. 
All  modern  theology  is  based  on  this  history,  deriving  what- 
ever inspiration  or  authority  it  claims  from  it ;  the  Christian 
theologians  having  entered  the  Jewish  tabernacles  and  appro- 
priated it,  and  added  to  it  the  New  Testament  of  Christian 
faith  and  history ;  and  for  over  eighteen  centuries  have  forced 
it  through  the  various  changes,  as  did  their  Jewish  predeces- 
sors, until  the  present  theology  is  the  result. 

Are  we  not  justified  in  concluding,  then,  that  in  dealing 
with  mankind  as  a  factor  in  government,  it  is  available  so  far 
as  the  mentality  of  men  find  its  teachings  acceptable  to  their 
perceptions  and  responsive  to  their  longings;  and  beyond  that 
it  is  of  no  avail?  If  so,  then  it  must  be  addressed  to  such, 
and  the  claim  that  there  can  be  no  reform  without  it  is  a  claim 
that  cannot  be  substantiated,  nor  can  it  be  admitted  to  the 
exclusion — or  obstruction,  even — of  other  methods  for  reform, 
and  the  building  up  of  the  mentality  that  will  comprehend  the 


42  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

necessity  for  and  the  duty  to  observe  public  order.  With  or 
without  the  Christian  theology,  associated  man  must  have  and 
submit  to  government,  and  there  are  only  two  kinds :  One, 
civil,  based  on  order  ;  one,  turbulent,  based  on  anarchy.  In 
the  first  that  theology  can  exist  as  one  feature  because  there  is 
protection  for  its  adherents.  In  the  other  it  cannot,  only  as 
Christian  believers  among  the  turbulent  may  gain  temporary 
ascendency. 


CHAPTER  V. 

MIND. 

I  HAVE  made  some  references  to  this  subject  in  the 
preceding  chapter,  but  I  deem  it  of  importance  to  tfeat  it 
separately  and  more  fully.  For  the  purposes  contemplated  in 
this  work  I  will  pass  by  the  recognized  premises  and  deduc- 
tions of  scientists  as  to  what  mind  is,  and  assume  a  position  as 
a  point  for  illustration. 

Mind  is  supposed  to  be  impressions  made  on  the  gray  mat- 
ter in  the  brain — and  probably  involving  the  whole  nervous 
system  with  the  natural  senses.  Without  the  senses  and 
impressions  made  through  them  there  is  no  mind.  The  animal 
body  may  exist  and  perform  the  functions  to  sustain  life  with- 
out other  consciousness  than  that  in  the  different  organs  and 
particles  of  matter  in  the  body,  which  must  have  conscious 
intelligence  of  their  own  to  perform  the  several  functions 
allotted  to  them  without  confusion.  For  comparison  we  may 
designate  this  as  the  physiological  or  animal  mind,  while  we 
call  the  mind  proper  the  intellectual  mind.  Both  are  an  entity, 
an  impulse,  an  energy,  a  force ;  born  of  matter,  a  result  of 
matter  in  motion  ;  existing  only  in  and  with  matter,  acting  on 
and  being  acted  on  only  by  and  through  matter.  When  we 
step  before  a  mirror  the  light  impresses  our  image  on  it,  and 
reflects  it  back  to  us  again,  but  it  does  not  retain  the  impres- 
sion. If  we  should  coat  the  mirror  with  a  sensitized  coating 
and  reflect  the  image  on  it,  it  would  retain  the  image  for  a 
time.  If  we  should  add  another  coating  for  the  purpose,  it 
would  retain  the  image  permanently.  So  with  what  is  called 
the  sensorium.  Impressions  made  upon  the  senses  of  sight, 
hearing,  smell,  taste  and  feeling  are  sometimes  merely  im- 
pressed for  the  moment  and  disappear,  like  that  on  the  mirror. 
Others  remain  for  a  time  and  then  fade  away.  Others  become 
permanent  and  we  call  it  memory.  Again,  sometimes  a  fixed 


44  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

impression  on  a  plate  fades,  and  a  new  coating  of  the  right 
chemical  will  restore  it.  So  the  impression  on  the  memory 
may  fade ;  and  by  exercise  of  mental  force  we  can  recall  it — 
recollect,  as  we  say — and  restore  it  to  the  memory.  Like  the 
diamond  that  absorbs  and  reflects  light,  when  laid  away  a  long 
time  in  darkness  will  lose  fts  light,  but  if  dipped  into  warm 
water  will  again  show  light  as  if  lying  latent  in  it  and  is  recalled 
by  the  warm  fluid. 

Just  where  these  impressions  are  made,  how  they  are  made, 
what  they  are  made  on  or  in,  how  they  are  retained,  or  recalled 
when  lost  for  the  time,  or  what  the  character  of  the  energy  or 
force  is,  is  not  known.  Like  other  subtle  and  invisible  things, 
we  can  only  see  the  results  of  its  action  in  some  cases,  and 
from  that  form  an  opinion.  The  natural  senses  may  all  be 
active  and  there  be  no  mind,  from  absence  of  intellectual 
brain,  or  defective  quality  or  arrangement  of  brain  matter. 

While  brain  has  one  general  character,  it  differs  in  texture, 
quality  of  tissue,  sensibility  to  impressions,  quickness  of  re- 
sponse in  impulse  caused  by  impressions,  and  in  arrangement 
of  vital  centers,  as  well  as  in  volume.  Among  the  hundreds  of 
millions  there  are  no  two  exactly  alike. 

Mind  is  the  receptacle  as  well  as  result  of  such  impressions 
as  are  made  on  the  body  through  the  natural  senses,  and  the 
impulses  created  by  those  impressions.  There  is  first  an  im- 
pression on  the  sense  from  the  action  of  matter  outside  of  the 
body ;  that  impression  is  carried  to  the  sensorium  through  the 
nerves,  and  impresses  itself  and  becomes  conscious  knowl- 
edge. The  outside  impression  ceases  and  the  sensorium  retains 
that  impression  as  knowledge,  and  from  it  comes  an  impulse 
called  thought,  and  that  thought  goes  out  and  takes  cognizance 
of  the  matter  that  made  the  impression.  Continued  impres- 
sions on  all  of  the  senses  from  endless  action  of  matter  outside, 
and  continued  impulses  as  thoughts  resulting  from  the  impres- 
sions, with  impulses  !  from  the  operations  of  accumulated  and 
combined  thought,  make  mind.  The  impressions  and  impulses 
will  depend  on  the  peculiar  character  and  formation  of  the 
brain,  or  whatever  makes  up  the  sensorium  on  which  the 
impression  is  made. 

(We  begin  to  make  impressions  on  the  convict,  and  the  im- 


MIND.  45 

pression  he  may  receive  may  not  be  the  one  we  intend  to  make, 
and  the  impulse — thought — that  results  will  be  such  as  his 
mind,  not  ours,  will  produce.  If  we  understand  his  mind  we 
can  better  calculate  the  impression  he  will  receive  and  the 
result  from  it — producing  thought  in  him,  and  so  affecting  his 
mind  in  producing  new  mind. ) 

If  I  take  a  silver  coin  and  lay  it  on  the  top  of  my  tongue, 
and  a  copper  one  and  put  it  under  my  tongue,  and  bring  the 
edges  together  over  the  end  of  my  tongue,  the  salt  and  acid  in 
the  fluid  secretions  of  the  mouth  will  begin  to  corrode  the 
metal  in  the  coins — that  is,  make  an  impression  on  them. 
From  that  impression  an  impulse  will  start  that  we  call 
electric  force,  or  energy,  as  the  thought  starts  from  the 
mental  impression.  It  will  pass  from  one  coin  to  the 
other,  through  the  tongue,  back  onto  the  coins  again  in 
a  circuit ;  and  it  will  continue  as  long  as  I  keep  the  edges 
together — that  is,  as  long  as  the  impression  of  the  fluids  con- 
tinues on  the  coins ;  just  as  an  impression  on  the  eye  will  go  to 
the  brain,  create  the  impulse  of  thought  and  come  back 
through  the  eye  and  note  what  caused  the  impression,  and 
continue  while  the  impression  lasts.  When  I  separate  the  edges 
the  impulse  will  cease.  If  I  bring  them  together  again  the 
impulse  will  start  again.  Just  so  will  the  eye  carry  an  impulse 
to  and  from  the  brain  as  long  as  impressions  continue.  The 
impulse  will  create  a  stinging  impression  on  the  tongue,  and 
there  will  be  a  metallic  taste  in  the  mouth.  Here  are  two 
impressions — feeling  and  taste — that  are  made  on  the  senso- 
rium  through  those  senses,  and  an  impulse  starts  there  as 
thought  and  continues  as  long  as  the  tongue  stings  and  the 
mouth  tastes.  The  coins  retain  the  marks  of  the  corrosion 
(although  they  may  not  be  visible  to  us),  that  is,  the  impres- 
sion made  on  them  by  the  fluids  of  the  mouth,  as  the  senso- 
rium  retains  the  impression  made  by  the  senses ;  and  there  has 
been  a  consumption  of  brain  tissue  in  the  mental  action  as 
there  has  been  of  the  metal  in  the  electric  action.  The  current 
disappears,  as  the  thought  does,  as  soon  as  the  impression 
ceases.  The  sensorium  is  sentient  and  can  recall  the  thought 
whenever  some  other  impression  prompts  an  impulse  of  like 
character,  as  the  coin  recalls  it  on  the  edges  being  brought 


46  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

together.  Whether  the  coins  are  sentient  and  can  recall  the 
impressions  made  on  them  is  beyond  our  comprehension;  but 
here  were  two  forces  in  the  action  of  matter  in  immediate  con- 
tact, dependent  on  and  growing  out  of  each  other,  born  of 
action  and  re-action  in  matter — electric  force  and  mind-force — 
both  properties  of  and  in  matter,  and  alike  in  modes  of  action. 
The  one  remains  with  us,  the  other  disappears  but  leaves  with 
us  knowledge  of  it,  and  we  can  recall  it  with  the  coins  at  our 
pleasure,  a  mechanical  act.  We  do  it  by  an  impulse  of  the 
mind-force.  Whether  that  is  a  mechanical  act  or  not  we  do 
know,  but  we  do  know  there  is  a  consumption  of  brain  tissue 
with  every  mental  impulse,  as  there  is  consumption  of  the 
metals  with  the  electric  impulse,  and  we  cannot  be  contra- 
dicted if  we  say  it  was  mechanical — dictated  by  the  conscious 
intelligence  in  the  matter  constituting  the  sensorium. 

I  can  create  this  electric  force  at  pleasure  and  give  it  con- 
ductors, and  convey  impressions,  and  create  mind-force  with  it 
a  thousand  miles  and  more  away.  I  will  suspend  a  plate  of 
zinc  and  one  of  copper  in  each  of  two  jars  of  acid,  and  with 
two  wires  connect  the  zincs  in  each  jar  with  the  coppers  in  the 
other,  keeping  the  plates  separated.  The  metals  will  begin  to 
corrode  (oxidize)  and  the  electric  force  will  start,  run  from  the 
metal  in  one  jar  to  the  metal  in  the  other,  over  the  wire, 
through  the  acid  onto  the  other  metal,  back  on  the  other  wire 
to  the  other  plate  in  the  first  jar,  through  the  acid  onto  the 
first  plate,-  in  a  circuit,  and  continue  as  long  as  the  corrosion 
of  the  metals  goes  on  and  I  leave  the  wires  attached.  Now,  if 
one  jar  is  here  and  another  in  New  York,  and  one  wire  be- 
tween, I  can  put  the  ends  of  the  other  wire  down  into  the 
moist  earth,  and  the  earth  will  complete  the  circuit  as  well  as  a 
second  wire  would  do  if  carried  clear  through.  If,  before 
carrying  the  wire  to  New  York  (or  anywhere  between  the  jars), 
I  wind  it  around  a  piece  of  soft  iron,  the  current,  in  passing 
around  the  iron,  will  make  an  impression  on  it  from  which  a 
new  impulse  will  start  called  magnetic  force,  and  the  iron  will 
become  a  magnet  and  attract  steel.  If  I  cut  off  the  current  by 
detaching  the  wire  the  magnetic  force  will  disappear  with  the 
electric  force  and  the  iron  will  cease  to  be  a  magnet.  It  does 
not  retain  the  impression — it  has  forgotten.  But  I  can  recall 


MIND.  47 

it  again  by  attaching  the  wire  and  starting  the  electric  current. 
If  I  substitute  a  piece  of  iron  charged  with  carbon — that  is> 
steel — and  send  the  current  around  it,  it  will  become  a  magnet 
and  will  retain  the  impression  and  be  a  permanent  magnet. 
It  will  remember.  This  electric  force  will  not  start  unless  it 
can  make  a  circuit  and  get  back  again.  Here  the  metals  and 
acid  correspond  with  the  action  in  matter  outside  of  the  body, 
and  the  wire  corresponds  with  the  sensitory  nerve  that  conveys 
the  impression  to  the  sensorium.  The  iron  corresponds  with 
the  sensorium  that  receives  the  impression,  and  the  magnetic 
force  takes  the  place  of  the  thought  the  impression  generates, 
and  then  forgets.  The  magnetic  force  on  the  steel  takes  the 
place  of  the  thought  that  is  generated,  and  remembers.  And 
the  mind-force,  like  the  electric  force,  will  not  start  unless  it 
can  complete  a  circuit.  Unless  the  body,  nerve  and  sensorium, 
are  in  such  condition  that  the  outside  action  will  make  an 
impression  and  create  thought,  and  the  thought  takes  con- 
scious notice  of  what  made  the  impression — flows  back  to  the 
start — there  will  be  no  mind-force.  The  decomposition  of  the 
metals  in  the  acid  corresponds  with  the  consumption  of  brain 
and  nerve  tissue ;  and  as  the  acid  and  metals  must  be  renewed, 
so  the  tissue  must  be  replaced  by  nutrition.  The  analogy  is 
complete  throughout.  If  I  place  a  small  metal  bar  on  a  pivot 
over  this  magnet  and  send  the  current  through  that,  as  often 
as  it  touches  the  magnet  the  current  will  start  on  the  circuit, 
and  when  I  remove  it  from  the  magnet  it  will  stop.  In  this 
way  by  dots  and  dashes,  or  variant  sounds,  representing 
letters,  I  can  write,  just  as  the  mind-force,  going  to  the  hand, 
can  express  the  thoughts  from  the  impressions  with  a  pen. 

From  the  principle  of  the  telegraph  let  us  turn  to  the  pho- 
nograph. Every  tone  in  sound  produces  its  own  peculiar  vi- 
bration in  the  surrounding  medium,  and  that  vibration  brings 
into  action  electric  force.  If  we  take  a  cylinder  having  a  small 
spiral  groove  running  around  it,  and  cover  it  with  thin  foil, 
place  it  in  front  of  and  close  to  a  small  metal  point  attached 
to  a  diaphragm,  so  that  the  point  comes  over  the  groove,  and 
arrange  the  cylinder  with  clock-work  so  it  will  revolve  and 
move  forward,  keeping  the  groove  close  and  opposite  to  the 
point,  and  then  make  sounds  so  the  vibrations  can  reach 


48  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

the  diaphragm,  the  same  vibrations  in  the  surrounding  medium 
will  be  communicated  to  the  diaphragm,  and  the  point  will  in- 
dent the  foil  with  the  number  of  dents,  of  proper  depth  and 
length,  corresponding  to  the  number  force  and  duration  of 
the  vibrations  made  by  each  tone  of  sound.  If  the  cylin- 
der be  then  put  back,  starting  at  the  beginning,  and  be 
turned  as  before,  as  the  little  point  passes  over  the  indentations 
in  the  foil,  it  will  vibrate  the  diaphragm ;  that  will  give  the 
same  vibrations  to  the  surrounding  medium,  generate  electric 
force  and  the  same  tones  will  be  carried  to  the  ear  and  im- 
pressed on  the  sensorium  ;  thought  is  produced,  and  we  think 
we  hear  the  same  tones  that  were  made  in  the  ear  or  re- 
ceiver of  the  phonograph.  Here  the  electric  force — every- 
where present  in  matter — is  generated,  not  by  the  decomposi- 
tion of  metals,  but  by  the  vibrations  of  the  ether,  (and  perhaps 
air)  or  whatever  constitutes  the  surrounding  medium  in  space. 
(The  air  wave  theory  of  sound  is  not  accepted.) 

Now,  the  particles  in  the  body  are  never  still — all  is  in  vibra- 
tory motion  in  some  form.  Decomposition  of  matter  never 
ceases,  but  waste  of  tissue  (and  its  conversion  into  water, 
carried  off  through  the  skin,  lungs  and  kidneys,)  is  constant, 
and  supply  of  more  through  digestion  and  assimilation  of 
food  goes  on,  as  long  as  the  machinery  lasts ;  just  as  the  elec- 
tric force  goes  on  as  long  as  the  materials  last.  Does  this  pro- 
cess in  the  human  system  generate  electric  force  ?  Is  the  hu- 
man organism  an  electrical  machine,  complete  in  itself,  as  long 
as  the  materials  last,  or  until  the  circuit  is  broken  by  de- 
struction of  the  battery  or  the  wires  (the  sensorium  and 
nerves),  or  of  the  jars  and  wasting  of  acids, ^(the  body  and 
blood),  or  the  complete  corrosion  of  the  metals,  (the  whole 
cell  structure  of  the  body)  ?  Does  it  produce  the  electric  force 
in  all  forms,  and  manifestations,  and  methods?  We  take  a  dy- 
namo and  generate  the  electric  force,  and  store  it  up  in  plates 
and  pack  them  away  as  the  mind  does  thoughts — knowledge. 
We  detach  the  steam  power  from  the  engine  that  runs  the  dy- 
namo, and  attach  the  plates,  so  as  to  make  a  circuit  on  an  elec- 
tric motor,  and  the  stored  electric  force  in  the  plates  runs  the 
dynamo  to  generate  more  electricity,  just  as  the  mind  force 
stored  up  in  the  brain  plates,  in  the  form  of  knowledge,  uses 


MIND.  49 

that  knowledge  to  generate  more  impressions,  and  create  more 
knowledge.  All  that  comes  of  knowledge  is  changes  in  the 
forms  of  matter  through  the  action  of  the  person.  Is  the  hu- 
man organism  one  form  of  dynamo,  generating  electric  force, 
and  storing  it  up  in  the  sensorium  plates,  to  be  used  in  turn  to 
run  the  dynamos,  to  generate  more  force ;  and  within  it  the 
telegraph,  the  telephone,  the  phonograph,  the  electric  clock, 
the  electric  motor,  and  all  the  uses  to  which  that  force  can  be 
put,  and  many  others  as  yet  unknown,  perhaps  as  infinite  as  the 
the  universe? 

Several  electric  currents  can  be  sent  over  the  same  circuit 
conductor,  «in  different  directions  at  the  same  time,  convey- 
ing different  messages ;  just  as  several  impressions  can  be 
conveyed  over  the  nerves  to  the  sensorium  at  the  same  time, 
generating  different  thoughts,  and  leaving  different  knowledge ; 
as  in  eating  a  rich,  fragrant  apple,  while  talking  about  it,  every 
sense — eye,  ear,  smell,  taste  and  feeling — all  are  impressed  at 
once.  And  there  is  a  further  force,  a  compound  of  the  animal 
and  intellectual  minds,  generating  a  sense  or  impression  of 
gratification,  enjoyment,  pleasure ;  just  as  there  is  in  the  tri- 
umph of  duplex  telegraphy,  less  the  gastronomic  sense.  Is 
mind  force  one  of  the  productions  of  the  action  of  electric 
force  in  matter,  as  magnetic  force  is? 

What  is  the  visible  reaction  of  this  mind  force  ?  Simply 
changes  in  the  form  of  matter  from  the  mechanical  acts  of  the 
human  body,  directed  by  these  thoughts — this  knowledge  ob- 
tained from  impressions  made  by  matter.  Houses,  books,  ma- 
chinery, ships,  railroads,  farms,  forms  of  food  and  raiment, 
statutes,  cathedrals,  statuary,  monuments — and  all  the  cre- 
ations of  humanity  in  the  use  of  knowledge,  each  making 
more  impression  and  generating  more  thought  and  knowledge 
in  combined  thoughts.  The  pen  that  wrote  Magna  Charta  and 
the  axe  that  beheaded  Charles  the  First ;  the  emancipation 
proclamation  and  the  gallows  that  hung  Guiteau  ;  the  comic  val- 
entine and  the  Angelus  ;  the  patent  medicine  almanac  and  New- 
ton's Principia ;  the  jumping-jack  to  impress  the  child  and  the 
Lick  telescope  to  confound  scientists  with  the  revelation  of 
the  nebulae.  Such  uses  'as  create  impressions  that  form  the 
mind  of  the  criminal;  make  his  acts  crimes;  bring  about  his 


50  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

conviction;  builds  the  prison  that  receives  him;  the  mind  that 
there  seeks  to  control  his  mind  and  by  new  impressions  substi- 
tute in  him  another  mind  ;  the  force  moves  in  a  circuit,  from 
matter,  through  the  force  it  generates  in  one  form,  to  matter  in 
another  form.  The  force  that  makes  mind  is  clearly  a  material 
force,  and  the  mind  force  in  turn  manifests  itself  in  a  material 
way,  leaving  that  evidence  that  it  also  is  a  material  force.  I  need 
not  pursue  this  subject  further  for  the  purpose  I  intend  it  to 
serve,  which  will  be  seen  further  on.  As  an  illustration  of  the 
generation  of  invisible  energy,  this  principle  of  the  electric  tel- 
graph  and  phonograph  is  an  exact  illustration  of  the  genera- 
tion of  mind  force  on  another  plane — that  of  animal  intelli- 
gence. 

The  experience  of  every  day  .demonstrates  that,  somewhere 
in  nature  there  are  elements  that  establish  circuits  in  which  the 
mind  force  moves  and  acts  in  connection  with  other  mind  force 
in  other  persons ;  it  may  be  a  short  or  a  long  distance  away. 
At  certain  times  and  under  certain  conditions  the  mind  force  in 
one  person  is  conveyed  to,  and  operates  on  the  mind  force  in 
another  person,  and  we  designate  it  as  psychic  force ;  (soul 
force — psychology  being  a  discourse  about  the  soul ;  a  deduct- 
ive soul  science,  like  theology) ;  just  as  if  one  brain  or  sensorium 
was  a  battery  here,  and  another  brain  or  sensorium  was  another 
battery  somewhere  else,  and  in  some  way  in  the  action  of 
the  elements  in  matter,  a  conductor  is  established  between 
them  like  the  wire  between  the  jars,  and  some  action  in  the  two 
bodies  starts  a  current  and  communication  takes  place  be- 
tween them.  Impressions  are  conveyed  and  felt,  and  intelli- 
gent action  follows  from  thought  created  by  the  impressions. 
I  have  alluded  to  it,  but  we  may  specially  note  that  when  the 
decomposition  of  the  metal  ceases  the  electric  force  ceases  ;  and 
when  the  wire  is  detached  it  does  not  pass.  Just  so  with  the 
mind.  If  the  sensorial  nerve  loses  its  vitality  no  impression  is 
conveyed.  Or  if  there  be  unconsciousness  none  is  received, 
though  the  nerve  be  normal ;  and  in  either  case  there  is  no 
creation  of  mind.  And  though  there  may  be  consciousness, 
yet  if  from  disease  there  be  no  impression  there  will  be  no 
mind  force  as  to  the  part  affected  by  disease,  as  in  deafness, 
loss  of  smell,  etc.  Disintegration  of  tissue  goes  on  during  sleep 


MIND.  5 1 

and  suspended  animation,  but  not  as  when  awake  and  under 
mental  stimulus ;  but  in  cases  of  partial  suspension  of  anima- 
tion there  may  be  mental  action  while  the  power  of  motion  is 
dormant,  as  in  catalepsy,  or  when  under  the  power  of  hyp- 
nosis. The  same  thing  applies  to  conductors  between  two 
mind  forces.  There  is  no  circuit  and  no  impression  unless 
brain  and  nerve  are  in  condition  to  receive  and  produce  im- 
pressions. There  are  conditions  when  impressions  can  be 
received  during  partial  sleep,  when  there  are  dreams,  and 
which  admit  of  as  rational  explanation,  as  do  those  when  the 
.mind  is  wholly  awake. 

In  reference  to  the  conductors  between  different  minds,  let 
us  consider  a  somnambulist  briefly.  Take  a  sleep-walker  who 
has  had  impressions  made  on  him  from  birth  to  manhood,  and 
the  action  and  reaction  of  mind  force  has  created  mind  with 
general  and  varied  knowledge.  The  intellect  is  asleep,  but  the 
animal  mind  is  carrying  on  all  of  the  bodily  functions.  Something 
disturbs  this  action  and  partially  arouses  the  intellectual  mind 
force  and  there  the  disturbance  is  suspended,  but  leaves  the 
newly  aroused  impulse  active.  The  sleeper's  partially  aroused 
mind  prompts  some  action,  goes  ahead  leading  the  way,  and  the 
body — unconscious  of  all  else  around  it — follows.  There  is 
more  or  less  of  the  force  that  exists  in  catalepsy,  for  no  impres- 
sion is  made  on  the  sensorium  from  outside  objects  other  than 
the  one  that  roused  the  sleeper,  and  on  which  the  mind  force  is 
suspended.  The  body  has  no  sense  of  feeling  in  a  natural  way. 
The  feet  do  not  feel  when  they  touch  the  floor  so  as  to  convey 
any  conscious  impression  to  the  sensorium.  The  sleeper  will 
walk  out  of  a  high  door  or  window  or  off  of  the  roof  of  a  house 
as  if  walking  on  a  level.  The  body  follows  the  impulse  of  the 
partially  aroused  force  until  the  force  has  spent  itself,  and  re- 
mains unconscious  otherwise.  No  impression  is  made  on  the 
sensorium  that  remains,  and  there  is  no  memory  of  the  act.  If 
he  be  aroused  the  mind  immediately  connects  itself  with  the 
matter  around  him,  and  receives  impressions  through  the  senses 
from  it ;  but  there  is  no  knowledge  from  the  sleep-walking  act. 
Was  this  an  exhibition  of  latent  psychic  force  slightly  developed? 
Or  was  it  a  phenomenal  exhibition  of  animal  mind  affected  by 
an  imperfect  intellectual  impulse ;  just  as  we  see  the  electric 


52  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

currents   sometimes  checked,  reversed,   and  perform  a  similar 
kind  of  act  in  their  own  domain  of  operation  ? 

Or  take  the  hypnotic.  I  put  him  into  the  mesmeric  sleep 
and  make  him  do  several  things  and  tell  him  that  he  is  to  for- 
get them  all  when  I  awake  him.  I  then  have  him  use  the  coins 
in  his  mouth  as  I  have  described,  and  I  tell  him  he  must  re- 
member that.  Now  I  awaken  him  and  he  forgets  all  I  told  him 
to  forget,  but  remembers  about  the  coins.  I  put  him  to  sleep 
again  and  fix  my  mind  on  a  piece  of  sugar  and  tell  him  I  am 
going  to  give  him  some  sugar ;  it  is  sweet,  and  to  eat  it,  and 
then  hand  him  a  piece  of  sour  apple.  He  sees  only  sugar,  and 
and  eats  it  tasting  only  sugar.  And  so  with  whatever  I  fix  his 
attention  on.  Then  while  asleep,  I  tell  him  he  must  remember 
about  the  coins  when  he  wakes,  and  a  week  hence  at  four  o'clock 
(or  any  other  fixed  time  ahead),  he  must  go  to  sleep,  use  the 
coins  in  the  same  way,  wake  up  and  forget  all  about  it  after- 
ward. Then  I  waken  him.  He  remembers.  At  the  time  fixed 
he  will  become  hypnotized,  use  the  coins,  wake  up,  and  forget 
all  about  it.  Here  my  mind  force  makes  impression  on  him 
through  the  senses  and  he  has  no  mind  but  mine.  He  hears 
me,  and  whatever  I  say  is  real  to  him,  though  it  has  no  real  ex- 
istence in  fact.  If  I  give  him  a  button  and  say  it  is  a  peach,  he 
will  see  a  peach.  The  activity  and  sensibility  of  any  part  of 
him  will  be  suspended  if  I  say  it  is  suspended.  I  tell  him  he 
cannot  feel  in  his  cheek,  and  I  may  run  a  knife  in  it  and  he  will 
feel  nothing.  He  will  hear  a  piano  in  a  whistle  if  I  tell  him  it 
is  so,  and  he  cannot  hear  at  all  if  I  say  so.  He  thinks  with  me 
and  has  no  will  but  my  will,  but  that  will  must  be  expressed  to 
him.  Whatever  I  suggest  is  active,  and  no  more,  like  the  acting 
thought  in  the  sleep-walker.  Meantime,  the  animal  functions 
go  on  undisturbed.  The  impressions  made  on  him  through  the 
ear,  produce  in  him  the  thought  I  suggest,  and  he  has  no  other 
thought  except  those  in  harmony  with  that  thought.  There  is 
no  change  of  temperature  in  fact ;  but  to  him  it  is  cold  or  hot, 
as  I  suggest  it  to  him.  Are  there  conductors  that  transfer  to 
him  my  own  mind  force,  and  does  the  current  continue  in  circuit 
as  long  as  the  hypnotic  condition  remains?  Is  there  a  combi- 
nation of  the  animal  and  intellectual  mind  energies  of  both  that 
in  some  way  produces  a  modified  force  that  operates  to  sus- 


<  MIND.  53 

pend  his  mind  force,  only  so  far  as  it  can  receive  impressions 
and  impulse  through  my  mind  energy? 

Let  us  look  at  a  cataleptic  a  moment.  The  instances  are 
innumerable  where^  while  in  the  cataleptic  sleep,  he  has  told  of 
things  that  were  going  on  at  the  time  miles  away — within  the 
circle  of  his  acquaintance — seeing  it  plainly  as  if  present  and 
looking  at  it  with  his  eyes.  Was  there  a  conductor  of  some 
kind,  by  which  the  mind  force  passed  and  repassed  and  impres- 
sions were  made  from  a  distance,  as  the  electric  current  started 
here  makes  an  impression  miles  away? 

I  am  in  a  strange  city.  Suddenly  I  think  of  some  one  I  have 
not  thought  of  or  seen  for  years,  and  do  not  know  that  he  is 
living.  I  turn  a  corner,  or  within  a  few  steps,  meet  that  person. 
Had  mind  force  found  a  conductor  and  found  its  way  between 
us  and  made  an  impression  ? 

I  am  sitting  in  my  room,  and  suddenly  the  house  of  a 
relative  an  hundred  miles  away  comes  before  me  and  some 
one  seems  to  say  to  me,  "  Come  at  once.  Your  brother  is 
dead."  I  am  so  impressed  that  I  cannot  throw  it  off,  and  I 
see  the  family  in  their  sorrow.  Soon  after,  a  telegram  brings 
me  the  same  message.  How  was  it ;  had  conditions  of  body, 
mind  and  exterior  electric  and  magnetic  forces,  or  in  some  other 
way,  created  such  conditions  that  mind  force  there  had  come 
to  me  and  impressed  me  here?  Similar  incidents  are  of  daily 
occurrence,  and  in  some  form  at  some  time  have  come  into  the 
life  of  most  persons.  The  instances  of  thought  transference 
have  been  too  numerous  to  permit  of  successful  contradiction. 

The  control  of  the  mind  over  the  body  is  almost  unlimited. 
The  strong  mind  controls  the  weak  one.  There  may  be  great 
mental  force  in  a  feeble  body,  as  in  the  case  of  the  late  Alex- 
ander H.  Stephens ;  and  a  weak  mind  in  a  giant's  body. 

The  mind  is  just  what  impressions  made  through  the  bodily 
senses  have  created.  These  impressions  depended  entirely 
on  the  character  of  the  sensorium  that  received  them,  and 
the  environments  of  the  individual  when  made.  The  crimi- 
nal's mind  could  not  be  other  than  it  is,  with  his  physical 
organism  and  environments  during  the  formation  of  mind  force 
up  to  the  time  of  offense.  The  impressions  made  on  his  sen- 
.sorium  and  the  impulses  created  by  those  impressions,  have 


54  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

been  the  ruling  force,  have  given  him  the  mind  force  he  has,, 
and  it  can  act  only  within  the  circuit  that  will  furnish  conduc- 
tors for  its  impulses. 

Let  us  look  at  the  intermingling  of  mind  forces  between 
different  persons.  We  see  instances  all  about  us.  Two  per- 
sons— perfect  strangers — meet,  and  with  no  knowledge  of  each 
other,  without  speaking,  with  no  apparent  cause,  they  are  mu- 
tually repulsive  to  each  other,  or  mutually  attractive ;  or  one 
may  repel  and  the  other  attract.  If  these  persons  continue  to 
meet,  those  who  repel  at  first  may  attract  afterwards  ;  or  the 
reverse.  Some  may  grow  more  repulsive  as  time  passes.  Yet 
there  is  no  outward  offensiveness  or  other  apparent  reason.' 
Are  there  conductors,  and  is  there  an  actual  meeting  of  the 
mind  energies,  evolving  new  or  modified  forces,  as  in  the  meet- 
ing of  the  ends  of  the  magnetic  needles?  With  some  persons, 
when  the  mind  forces  meet,  there  seems  to  be  a  mingling  of 
the  energies,  without  any  special  attraction,  affinity  or  dis- 
turbance, and  so  continues.  This  occurs  in  ordinary  socia- 
bility, and  forms  sets  or  circles  in  social  life.  In  some  cases 
there  is  mild  attraction,  harmonious  mingling,  and  no  actual 
affinity.  Such  are  ordinary  friendships ;  a  step  beyond  the 
merely  social.  Sometimes  there  is  strong  attraction  at  one 
time  with  apparent,  but  no  real  affinity,  and  then  strong  re- 
pulsion and  disturbance,  but  still  a  mingling  of  mind  forces. 
Such  persons  are  alternately  quarreling  and  making  up — great 
friends  at  one  time,  and  enemies  at  another,  and  so  alternating. 
Sometimes  there  is  strong  attraction,  close  commingling,  some 
affinity,  but  no  union.  It  is  often  mistaken  for  love,  and 
marriages  are  founded  on  it.  In  reality,  it  is  only  admiration 
— an  emotion  easily  destroyed.  If  such  persons  are  kept  con- 
stantly together,  as  in  marriage,  they  become  sensitive,  are 
easily  shocked  and  repelled  at  times  and  attracted  at  others. 
There  is  mingling  at  all  times  and  partial  affinity  on  occasions 
only.  With  some  persons  there  is  partial  affinity  of  part,  par- 
tial union  of  part,  and  repulsion  of  other  parts.  In  such  case 
they  are  persons  who  cannot  stay  together  without  discord,  or 
remain  apart  without  misery,  and  they  are  alternately  separat- 
ing and  uniting  ;  always  with  a  constant  longing  when  apart 
to  be  together,  and  always  feeling  some  shock  or  repugnance 


MIND.  55 

when  together.  With  some  there  is  partial  affinity,  easy  com- 
mingling, and  no  repulsion  ;  and  such  persons  are  quiet  and 
peaceable  when  together  and  content  when  separated.  There 
is  no  strong  attraction  and  no  repulsion.  We  see  instances  in 
the  easy  going-couples  we  sometimes  meet,  partners,  or  hus- 
band and  wife ;  who  never  seriously  differ,  nor  do  they  have 
any  demonstrations  of  affection  ;  no  effusiveness  when  to- 
gether and  no  worrying  when  separated.  With  yet  others  there 
is  gradual  attraction — in  rare  cases  sudden  and  violent  attrac- 
tion— commingling,  affinity,  and  actual  union  of  the  mind  en- 
ergies. In  most  cases  it  is  slow  and  graded,  depending  on 
knowledge  as  it  is  developed  through  successive  impressions, 
ending  in  final  union  and  cohesion  of  the  two  energies.  This 
is  what  may  be  called  love,  and  the  only  true  love — a  thing  of 
growth,  where  each  is  the  other  and  both  are  each.  It  is  natu- 
ral marriage.  But  few  formal  marriages  are  founded  on  it.  In 
reality  it  is  marriage  itself,  and  the  legal  or  clerical  ceremony 
of  marriage  in  such  cases  is  only  a  necessary  deference  to  the 
law,  on  the  grounds  of  public  policy,  but  it  adds  nothing  to 
the  indissoluble  union  that  nature  has  made.  In  such  mar- 
riages only  can  the  true  home  be  found  ;  such  a  home  as 
criminals  never  know.  The  influences  from  such  a  home  they 
never  feel,  nor  can  they  be  made  to  comprehend  them.  In 
these  illustrations  we  can  see  the  impression  one  person  makes 
on  the  sensorium  of  another,  with  the  thought  impulse  that 
follows,  and  the  harmonies  or  repulsions  that  attend  them.  < 
Just  how  the  subtile  forces  act,  we  cannot  know,  any  more 
than  we  can  know  why  a  beautiful  and  fragrant  flower  attracts 
while  another  one  may  offend ;  or  why  what  attracts  one  will 
offend  another,  and  what  offends  one  will  attract  another.  It 
is  the  thought  impulse  that  follows  the  impression  made  on 
each  sensorium,  which  is  peculiar  to  itself  and  like  no  other. 

While  we  are  soaring  into  the  imaginary  regions  of  the  su- 
pernatural, to  search  for  "  spirit,"  and  regarding  this  mind 
force  as  a  spiritual  soul,  and  approaching  the  convict  to  im- 
press something  on  this  soul,  we  are  looking  far  above  the  plane 
on  which  that  mind  is  moving  ;  entirely  outside  of  its  manner 
of  creation  and  action,  the  means  by  which  it  receives  and  re- 
sponds to  impressions,  and  so  overlook  and  go  wide  of  the 


56  THE   PRISON    QUESTION. 

ways  that  alone  can  lead  us  to  gain  the  most  practical  access 
to  it.  If  we  will  cease  to  live  in  an  imaginary  realm,  and 
come  back  to  our  own  plane;  if  we  will  regard  this  mind  as 
what  it  is — a  substantial,  material  force,  inherent  in,  and  born 
of  matter,  and  having  no  tangible  existence  elsewhere  so  long 
as  the  body  in  which  it  is  generated  and  acts  is  vital ;  instead 
of  trying  to  regard  it  as  an  immaterial  force  of  supernatural 
origin,  and  capable  of  being  impressed  by  other  than  natural 
forces,  if  we  will  take  cognizance  of  how  it  starts,  note  how  it 
grows,  what  makes  it  and  how  it  can  be  enlarged  or  its 
power  diminished,  we  shall  be  better  able  to  impress  it  as  we 
would  like  to  have  it  impressed,  and  thus  produce  responsive 
impulses  in  the  direction  of  higher  thoughts  and  more  moral 
influences.  The  open  way  to  the  celestial  plane  can  be 
reached  only  through  some  conception  of  the  sublime  per- 
fection and  wisdom  embodied  in  matter  and  the  operation 
of  natural  material  forces, 

Many  things  in  connection  with  mental  force  are,  as  yet,  in- 
explicable. Instances  are  common  of  persons  who  are  kindly, 
good-natured,  moral,  and  of  general  good  disposition  when 
sober,  but  who  when  drunk  are  demons  of  cruelty  and  de- 
structiveness.  As  if  in  the  ganglions  of  combativeness  and  de- 
structiveness  there  lurks  a  latent,  undeveloped  condition  or 
property,  which  is  temporarily  developed  by  the  stimulus  of 
alcohol  on  the  animal  mind,  while  at  the  same  time  the  coun- 
teracting ganglia  become  stupefied  and  subdued  and  fail  to 
generate  any  moral  force.  In  other  words,  the  impressions 
made  on  the  sensorium  through  the  senses  create  impulses  in 
form  of  thoughts  for  torture  and  destruction,  and  none  for  the 
opposite  of  these.  On  the  other  hand,  there  are  morose,  ugly, 
vicious,  quarrelsome  persons  when  sober,  who  become  good- 
natured,  humorous,  and  affectionate  when  drunk.  In  each  case 
the  impressions  on  the  sensorium  and  the  impulses  generated 
by  them,  are  entirely  different  when  sober  from  what  they  are 
when  drunk;  and  it  would  indicate  an  abnormal  or  diseased 
condition  of  the  tables  on  which  the  impressions  are  made.  It 
is  much  like  a  sensitized  plate  on  which  to  impress  a  picture 
with  the  camera,  together  with  the  arrangement  of  the  light 
and  adjustment  of  the  camera,  corresponding  to  the  tables  of  the 


MIND.  57 

brain,  the  nerves,  the  physiological  and  pathological  conditions 
of  the  body.  Every  imperfection  or  want  of  proper  adjust- 
ment, will  affect  the  impression,  as  in  an  electric  manifestation 
where  electricity  is  spread  over  a  metallic  surface,  if  there  be 
rusted  spots  on  the  metal  and  the  current  be  strong,  at  those 
spots  it  will  be  obstructed,  will  accumulate,  and  to  a  greater 
or  less  degree  heat,  or  destroy  the  metal  and  consume  the 
rusted  particles.  So  in  the  ganglions,  there  may  be  imperfect 
development  or  formation,  or  material,  which  are  not  affected 
by  the  ordinary  physical  energy;  but  when  it  is  stimulated  by 
alcohol,  the  circulation  increased  and  the  vital  force  made 
more  vigorous,  these  usually  latent  places  are  acted  on  in  such 
manner  as  to  produce  the  impulses  manifested.  These  facts 
are  of  grave  importance  when  we  come  to  inflict  punishment 
on  convicts.  We  are  making  impressions  through  the  senses 
to  create  mind  force,  and  what  latent  elements  we  may  arouse 
by  the  stimulus  is  of  consequence.  It  may  be  a  question 
whether  persons  affected  as  I  have  stated,  are  morally  respon- 
sible when  excited,  further  than  for  using  alcohol  knowing  its 
effects.  It  is  not  unlike  manifestations  among  the  insane,  and 
the  phases  it  assumes  are  endless.  A  person  usually  amiable, 
when  they  become  offended  may  become  morose  and  pout  for 
months.  Some  never  overlook  an  offense.  Others  not  usually 
amiable,  may  grow  momentarily  savage  on  offense,  but  quickly 
recover  and  become  pleasant.  One  may  see  a  bright  side  to 
everything  and  laugh  at  calamity,  another  may  see  no  sun- 
shine in  anything  and  brood  in  melancholy  continually.  Yet 
each  and  all  are  the  immediate  results  of  impressions  made  on 
the  sensorium  through  the  nerves  by  the  action  in  matter  out- 
side of  and  in  the  body ;  as  is  also,  the  results  of  the  com- 
pound and  complicated  action  of  accumulated  remembered 
thought  from  continuous  impressions  ;  and  the  thoughts  they 
develop  constitute  what  we  call  mind,  or  the  visible  manifes- 
tations of  mental  force,  in  its  turn  acting  wholly  through  mat- 
ter. In  a  word,  we  can  have  no  conception  of  what  is  not 
material. 

I  said  that  mind  is  not  confined  to  what  we  call  intellect  and 
our  own  consciousness.  Matter  has  mind  and  conscious  intelli- 
gence, and  though  it  may  extend  to  but  one  impression  and  one 


58  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

act,  it  is  intelligent  as  to  its  proper  affinity,  position  and  office, 
and  cannot  be  made  to  take  any  other  position  or  perform  any 
other  office  than  the  one  belonging  to  it  and  which  it  intelli- 
gently recognizes  always.  The  particles  of  matter  to  make  a 
hair ;  to  provide  the  gland,  the  nerve,  the  blood  vessel,  the 
oil  sac,  the  capillary  substance  ;  to  shape  the  hair  into  a  tube 
and  provide  and  distribute  the  coloring  matter,  make  no  mis- 
takes. Each  intelligently  selects  its  own  material,  rejects  all 
else,  performs  the  physiological,  chemical,  mechanical  manipu- 
lations required,  and  in  such  harmony  with  each  other  as  to 
intelligently  accomplish  the  purpose,  The  sensorium  takes  no 
cognizance  of  it  except  in  the  visible  results.  There  is  the 
still  more  mysterious  exhibition  of  energy  and  force  which  I 
have  called  the  physiological  or  animal  mind,  in  the  involun- 
tary muscles;  where  there  is  no  intellectual  mind  yet  so  inti- 
mately connected  with  it  that  the  former  can  be  visibly  and 
vitally  affected  by  the  latter;  but  the  animal  mind  can  go  on 
intelligently  and  perfectly  without  the  intellectual ;  as  in  sleep, 
coma,  in  the  infant,  the  utter  idiot,  and  cases  of  total  insensi- 
bility, in  paralysis,  etc.  The  processes  of  circulation,  digestion, 
nutrition,  and  waste  go  on.  The  hydraulic  and  rhythmic  action 
of  the  heart  and  the  breathing  are  uninterrupted.  Each  part 
performs  its  office  intelligently.  And  it  would  do  so  if  the  in- 
tellectual brain  were  removed,  the  residue  being  uninjured, 
under  the  stimulus  of  electricity,  as  I  have  shown  in  the 
chapter  on  mentality.  What  is  the  energy  that  compels  it  and 
regulates  it  ?  Like  other  energies  it  is  a  property  in,  of,  with 
and  by  matter,  and  non-existent  without  it.  This  animal  mind 
goes  on  the  same,  modified  at  times  by  intellectual  mind  force 
when  that  is  intelligently  active,  but  independent  of  mind  or 
no  mind,  other  than  its  own,  as  a  whole.  It  is  perpetual 
motion  until  the  matter  is  exhausted — worn  out— that  creates 
the  energy ;  or  until  violence  breaks  the  current,  as  in  the  case 
of  electricity.  When  intellectual  mind  is  absent  it  consciously 
and  intelligently  performs  the  functions  belonging  to  it,  as  the 
current  on  the  telegraph  continues  to  flow,  -though  the  key  of 
the  register  may  be  turned  off  and  repeat  no  message.  And  'a 
continuous  inflow  of  force  from  action  in  matter  external  to 
and  in  the  body,  returns  through  visible  manifestations  by  the 


MIND.  59 

body,  in  part  as  completely  mechanical  as  the  workings  of  a 
steam  engine  under  the  mysterious  force  of  the  invisible  steam 
converted  from  water  in  the  boiler,  by  the  mysterious  combus- 
tion of  matter  in  the  furnace,  kept  in  operation  by  the  human 
mechanism,  which  is  driven  by  mind  force,  generated  in  the 
sensorium,  fed  by  physiological  operation  of  nutrition  derived 
from  food.  Mind  converted  into  fire  and  steam,  and  that 
again  by  machinery  into  something  to  use,  making  more  im- 
pressions— more  mind. 

The  words  energy  and  force  convey  an  idea,  but  they  do  not 
explain.  Mind  is  force,  energy,  anything  we  may  please  to 
call  it  that  conveys  an  idea  of  power,  subtle,  invisible,  myste- 
rious, known  only  through  visible  results  of  its  action  on  mat- 
ter. Is  this  energy  atomic?  Are  electricity,  ether,  magnetic 
force,  and  all  other  agencies?  Their  forms  and  combinations 
change  and  are  infinite  in  modes  of  manifestation,  and  they 
are  found  only  in  connection  with  what  is  atomic.  Can  we  con- 
ceive of  anything  not  so,  though  we  may  not  be  able  to  weigh, 
measure  or  analyze  it?  The  temporary  forms  of  their  combi- 
nations alone  are  destructible,  and  we  may  justly  believe  they 
are  themselves  eternal. 

There  was  a  time  when  this  energy  now  converted  into  con- 
scious intelligent  mind  force  did  not  exist  in  that  form.  It  is 
not  illogical  to  believe  that  it  is  deathless,  and  that  when  the 
physical  environment  in  which  it  is  developed  here  shall  lose 
its  vitality,  it  may  continue  to  exist  on  some  other  plane,  in 
some  other  form,  and  that  communication  between  that  plane 
and  this  one  be  possible.  Where  or  what  that  or  those  planes 
is  or  are  is  beyond  us,  but  that  they  exist  and  that  we  can,  in 
some  degree,  penetrate  them,  has  received  many  apparant 
demonstrations,  and  is  being  evidenced  to  some  extent  by  the 
most  careful  scientific  investigation  by  the  ablest  philosophical 
inquirers  in  the  world.  We  rest  content  with  referring  to  it  as 
psychic  and  telepathic  force,  for  want  of  better  knowledge.  It 
may  be  the  operation  of  mind  on  planes  provided  for  it  by  the 
Supreme  Architect,  which  planes  are  intercommunicable  to 
some  extent,  now  to  us  unknown,  but  the  extent  of  which  is 
dependent  upon  conditions  of  various  character.  I  have  no 
reference  to  ordinary  spirit  manifestations,  but  to  those  that 


60  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

come  within  the  domain  of  scientific  investigations,  as  given 
to  us  from  time  to  time  by  the  best  minds  of  the  age.  If  it  be 
a  delusion  it  is  a  comforting  one,  and  we  shall  never  know  it 
as  such. 

Regarding  mind  as  I  do  other  subtle  and  invisible  forces — as 
material — I  find  a  satisfactory  solution  of  many  things  other- 
wise mysterious,  and  in  this  view  there  is  nothing  antagonistic 
to  a  rational  theology,  to  religion,  to  belief  in  a  future  exist- 
ence for  this  intelligent  force  in  form  for  intelligent  action,  on 
a  higher  or  lower  plane  ;  while  it  frees  me  from  useless  effort 
in  trying  to  comprehend  spirit,  which  is  an  impossibility, 
leading  to  confusion  and  unreason.  I  can  account  ration- 
ally for  many  things  relating  to  persons  found  in  the  crime 
class  that  are  otherwise  incomprehensible.  This  mind  is  the 
thing  we  approach  and  have  to  deal  with  when  the  convict 
comes  under  our  care  in  the  prison.  In  him  it  is  an  unbal- 
anced force,  operating  inharmoniously,  and  it  is  the  material 
force  created  and  maintained  by  the  impressions  that  have 
been  made  through  the  senses  and  the  impulses  those  impres- 
sions have  produced.  The  character  of  those  made  and  to  be 
made,  did  and  must  depend  entirely  on  the  character  of  the 
physical  matter  that  receives  them,  and  the  kind  of  impulse — 
thought — following,  and  the  operations  of  that  impulse  (com- 
bined with  all  others  in  action)  in  acts,  depend  upon  the 
change  that  matter  undergoes  in  producing  the  impulse,  and 
in  manifesting  itself.  The  effort  to  be  made  with  him  is,  to 
restore  or  create  a  balance,  and  harmonious  action.  Create 
such  physical  conditions  that  the  impressions  made  will  gener- 
ate impulses  and  thoughts  tending  to  moral,  rational,  practical 
acts,  harmonious  with  the  best  desires,  objects  and  ends  in  life. 
If  I  go  groping  in  the  dark,  feeling  for  a  ghost,  trying  to  drag 
it  to  the  light,  to  find  I  can  neither  see  or  comprehend  it  be- 
cause it  is  immaterial,  though  I  can  feel  that  I  have  got  it,  I 
am  at  such  disadvantage  contending  with  a  paradox  as  to  ren- 
der my  labor  useless.  But  if  I  know  the  mind  is  a  material 
force  dependent  on  physiological  conditions  of  the  body  with 
its  peculiar  supply  and  waste,  the  impressions  that  have  been 
made  on  it  by  environment,  with  such  knowledge  of  its  origin 
in  each  individual  as  is  obtainable ;  what  changes  must  be 


MIND.  6 1 

made  by  creating  other  conditions  that  will  receive  different 
impressions  and  generate  different  impulses,  I  am  not  only 
better  able  to  judge  if  such  change  can  be  made,  but  what 
methods  can  and  should  be  used  to  effect  it.  When  I  come  to 
study  the  criminal  and  experiment  with  him  with  a  view  to 
reformation,  I  am  dealing  with  something  material  that  I  can 
comprehend,  and  not  with  something  immaterial  of  which  I 
can  have  no  comprehension. 

That  peculiar  element  now  being  studied  in  connection  with 
mind  phenomena,  called  hypnotism  or  hypnosis,  to  which  I 
have  alluded,  comes  before  us  as  something  almost  appaling, 
when  we  recognize  the  power  of  the  strong  mind  over  the 
weak  one.  The  now  indisputable  fact  that  the  hypnotic  can 
be  made  to  remember  or  forget  as  he  is  directed  to  do,  after 
being  awakened,  and  that  he  can  be  directed  to  do  something 
at  some  time  in  the  future  and  then  forget  it,  and  he  will  do  it 
and  forget  it,  a  new  world  of  mystery  and  danger  opens  before 
us.  How  much  of  this  element  that  can  be  so  acted  on  by 
other  minds,  has  peculiar  properties  that  act  on  itself,  that 
make  people  lose  and  forget  themselves,  to  find  themselves  far 
from  home  and  in  situations  they  are  unfitted  for  and  at  war 
with  their  whole  previous  life,  with  no  memory  of  what  they 
have  done?  How  many  mysterious  crimes  are  committed  by 
hypnotics  under  self-imposed  sleep  or  that  imposed  by  others, 
of  which  the  perpetrator  knows  nothing?  How  many  having 
the  power  use  subjects  for  criminal  purposes,  the  subjects 
themselves  being  helpless  and  having  no  memory  of  it  after- 
ward? How  completely  morality  and  virtue  is  defenseless  in 
the  one  who  can  be  operated  on,  if  in  the  presence  of  one  who 
can  influence  them,  with  the  opportunity  and  the  will  to  do 
so?  The  history  of  strange  things,  that  are  to  us  incredulous 
and  regarded  as  degrading  superstitions,  are  less  strange  than 
some  of  the  developments  of  modern  investigation.  And  few 
present  more  incredible  features  than  are  coming  to  light 
under  the  exercise  of  this  hypnotic  influence.  Already  it  has 
been  suggested  to  make  it  a  crime  to  practice  hypnotism,  or 
give  any  public  exhibitions  of  it.  There  can  be  little  doubt 
that  hypnosis,  catalepsy,  somnambulism,  epilepsy,  hysteria, 
insanity  and  other  mysterious  mental  manifestations  are  out- 


62  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

growths  of  an  allied  nature  from  peculiar  physical  conditions, 
creating  or  permitting  of  peculiar  mental  organization.  There 
is  something  in  the  brain  and  nerve  texture  that  permits  of 
impressions  in  some  persons  by  electric,  magnetic,  or  some  un- 
known force,  and  of  the  evolution  and  application  of  the  force 
to  make  those  impressions  in  some  other  persons,  that  cause 
these  manifestations.  The  origin  and  operation  of  the  force 
calls  for  serious  consideration  in  the  study  of  the  prison  ques- 
tion. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

NATURAL    FORCES. 

TURNING  to  the  proposition  that  all  progress  is  in  re- 
action— the  maintenance  of  equilibrium,  that  nothing  is 
lost  in  action  and  reaction  in  matter — it  is  proper  to  consider 
briefly  some  of  the  operations  of  and  results  from  natural 
forces.  Nature  demands  and  will  have  compensation  for  all 
she  gives  us.  She  always  makes  even  and  exact  payment. 
She  gives  away  nothing.  Whether  we  receive  blessing  or 
curse  we  earn  it  first,  or  it  has  been  earned  for  us.  There  is 
no  charity  in  her  disposition.  Whatever  we  desire  to  do,  or 
attempt  to  do,  this  should  be  constantly  borne  in  mind,  for  we 
cannot  change  her  inexorable  decrees  in  the  least  particular. 

Whatever  happens  to  us  is  a  natural  outgrowth  from  the 
action  of  natural  forces,  and  is  a  direct  consequence  of  our 
mentality  and  environment.  The  mind  force,  or  energy,  of 
every  person  is  the  outgrowth  of  physical  formation  and  sub- 
sequent environment ;  the  surroundings  and  nurture  day  by 
day  make  up  the  education  and  fix  the  mental  impressions, 
and  the  plane  on  which  each  person  acts,  and  whatever  hap- 
pens to  them  on  that  plane  is  the  result  of  the  operation  of 
natural  forces  on  that  plane;  that  is  to  say,  whatever  happens 
to  the  person  is  the  result  of  his  mental  organism,  .as  originally 
formed  and  progressively  developed  and  educated,  constituting 
his  mentality,  and  is  the  exact  response  of  natural  laws. 

Take  a  very  extreme  case  for  illustration.  I  am  on  the 
street  going  home  from  my  business.  No  matter  if  that  busi- 
ness be  begging,  or  banking,  or  stealing,  or  what  not.  One 
person  shoots  at  another,  misses,  and  kills  me.  It  is  a  natural 
result  and  the  immediate  natural  compensation  of  my  own 
acts,  acts  dictated  by  my  own  mentality  and  with  my  surround- 
ings as  they  had  been  and  were,  on  the  plane  where  I  was  then 
acting.  So  also,  of  the  one  who  did  the  shooting  and  of  the 

63 


64  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

one  he  designed  to  kill.  My  mentality  and  environment  from 
birth  to  that  time  had  brought  into  operation  natural  forces  in 
such  order  of  sequence  as  to  place  me  exactly  in  the  position 
to  receive  that  bullet  at  that  time.  Had  I  started  a  little 
sooner  or  later,  walked  a  little  faster  or  slower,  lived  in  some 
other  direction,  been  in  some  other  business,  or  in  a  different 
state  of  health,  I  would  not  have  been  in  that  spot.  The  sub- 
jects of  right  and  wrong,  of  accident  and  design,  do  not  enter 
into  the  matter  at  all  and  are  wholly  foreign  to  it,  so  far  as  I 
am  concerned.  If  they  have  any  connection  with  it  they  relate 
to  the  shooter  and  his  intended  victim.  But  had  their  men- 
tality and  environment  through  life  been  different,  they  would 
not  have  been  there.  The  result  of  the  operation  of  natural 
forces  are  never  accidental.  We  use  the  word  "accidenr"  as 
we  do  others,  for  comparison.  Had  one  single  ganglion  of  my 
brain  at  birth  been  differently  organized  or  in  different  combi- 
nation in  my  organism,  my  environment  in  some  respects 
would  have  been  different.  The  impulses  created  would  have 
made  my  acts  different  and  my  place  at  the  time  of  shooting 
would  have  been  elsewhere,  as  a  result  of  natural  forces  oper- 
ating under  the  different  conditions  following  the  different 
mentality  and  environment. 

There  is  no  possible  chance  to  argue  on  a  matter  of  fact, 
while  we  may  on  a  matter  of  opinion.  That  the  energies  and 
forces  of  nature  so  operate  with  the  individual  as  to  make 
exact  compensation  in  all  cases  is  a  fact ;  that  is,  he  receives 
exactly  what  his  own  acts  have  led  him  to,  regardless  of 
design,  and  as  a  result  of  the  action  of  natural  forces  with 
existing  conditions.  A  man  can  act  no  further  than  he  can 
perceive.  To  enlarge  the  boundaries  of  his  perceptions  in  one 
or  more  directions,  without  maintaining  mental  balance,  may 
benefit  or  may  injure  him,  and  others  through  him,  as  he  may 
possess  or  lack  the  ability  to  act  judiciously  within  the  en- 
larged boundaries.  Take  a  feeble-minded  person — child  or 
adult — with  a  mental  organism  that  tends  to  crime — say  arson, 
larceny  or  murder — aud  give  it  knowledge  by  teaching,  en- 
larging its  boundary  of  perception.  Unless  you  also  give  it 
moral  perception,  and  moral  will  to  dominate  those  tendencies, 
the  increased  knowledge  will  be  used  for  vicious  purposes. 


NATURAL    FORCES.  65 

Nature  acts  as  in  other  cases  in  making  compensation.  So 
with  convicts  in  prison.  Making  them  wiser  and  giving  them 
skill  in  labor  while  under  restraint,  makes  them  the  more  dan- 
gerous to  society  when  liberated,  unless  the  moral  balance  is 
also  educated  so  it  performs  the  office  of  holding  the  evil  im- 
pulses in  restraint. 

We  may  aptly  refer  again  to  the  boiler  and  engine  and 
attached  machinery.  We  have  the  steam  and  machinery,  but 
lack  the  proper  regulating,  governing  and  adjusting  provisions 
to  make  them  work  properly.  To  provide  this,  we  increase 
the  capacity  of  the  working  machinery  and  add  to  the  quantity 
of  steam,  with  no  adequate  adjustment  of  the  regulating 
machinery.  The  consequences  that  must  follow  are  evident. 
So  with  the  convict.  We  add  to  his  physical  strength  by 
discipline,  labor  and  regularity  of  habits ;  to  his  intellectual 
powers  by  teaching  ;  but,  unless  we  can  also  elevate  and  per- 
fect his  moral  perceptions  so  they  can  regulate  both  the  ani- 
mal and  intellectual  forces  we  have  increased,  he  will  be  injured 
instead  of  benefitted,  and  will  be  more  able  to  injure  others  if 
set  at  large.  The  views  of  prison  wardens,  directors,  managers, 
chaplains  and  legislative  committees,  are  as  variant  on  these  sub- 
jects as  is  their  personality  and  intelligence,  and  with  an  occa- 
sional exception,  the  matter  has  never  been  considered  by  them 
from  a  scientific  point  of  view.  Whether  from  want  of  knowl- 
edge, or  because  of  belief  in  other  theories  or  supposed  theo- 
ries, makes  no  difference.  The  fact  remains  that  it  has  not 
generally  been  philosophically  considered.  This  fact  is  true, 
also,. of  a  majority  of  the  philanthropists  and  reformers  who  are 
seeking  by  various  means  to  benefit  the  unbalanced  portion  of 
humanity. 

One  man  stands  on  a  high  building  and  looks  at  the  street 
below.  Another  stands  on  the  ground  at  the  bottom  and 
looks  at  the  same  street.  They  cannot  see  it  alike  nor  can 
they  act  alike  in  relation  to  it.  Let  them  change  places,  and 
still  they  will  not  see  it  exactly  alike,  nor  can  they  act  alike  in 
relation  to  it  in  everything,  unless  their  preceptions  be  exactly 
alike,  and  that  is  not  possible.  They  may  act  on  a  general 
line  in  harmony  and  accomplish  a  purpose,  but  there  will  be 
mental  differences  in  views. 


66  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

Out  of  this  universal  difference  comes  the  progressive  ener- 
gies that  make  what  we  call  civilization  ;  but  the  equilibrium 
of  good  and  evil  has  been  maintained,  being  changed  only  in 
forms  and  operations,  and  place  of  manifestations. 

If  we  can  acquire,  keep,  and  judiciously  use  knowledge,  we 
shall  get  the  most  there  is  in  life  for  us,  and  that  to  the  extent 
we  can  become  keepers  and  users.  In  these  words,  "the  abil- 
ity to  acquire,  keep,  and  judiciously  use,"  to  whatever  applied, 
lies  the  entirety  of  philosophy  and  science,  which  is  no  more 
or  less  than  truth  demonstrated.  While  truths  may  be  innu- 
merable we  can  make  practical  use  of  only  a  portion  of  them 
in  securing  the  best  for  ourselves  through  life,  as  individuals 
and  in  associations.  That  portion  we  must  judiciously  use  or 
they  become  evils ;  truths  operating  as  falsehoods ;  good  pro- 
ducing evil ;  realities  not  real,  having  only  the  appearance. 

So  with  money  and  property.  If  we  can  acquire,  keep  and 
judiciously  use,  we  can  keep  out  of  the  reach  of  want  and  en- 
joy whatever  of  comforts  they  can  confer.  If  we  cannot,  we 
must  be  and  remain  dependent  on  the  will  of  those  who  can  do 
so.  Judicious  use  includes  practical  moral  perception,  with  the 
will  to  use  it  as  a  controlling  force.  This  carries  us  back  to  the 
foundation — the  mentality  and  environment,  and  the  natural 
forces  set  and  kept  in  operation  by  them.  Illustrations  are  be- 
fore us  constantly.  Some  time  ago  a  millionaire  in  one  of  our 
large  cities  forced  "  a  corner  "  (secured  control  of)  on  a  leading 
staple  in  food  supplies.  To  that  time  he  had  possessed  the 
faculties  that  enabled  him  to  acquire,  keep  and  judiciously  use 
knowledge  and  money  and  property.  In  forcing  this  "corner" 
he  laid  aside  his  moral  balance  and  used  his  knowledge  and 
money  injudiciously.  The  "corner"  was  broken  and  left  him 
a  bankrupt.  Returning  to  a  judicious  use  again,  he  is  once 
more  a  millionaire. 

There  is  Jones.  His  hands  are  about  the  size  of  those  of  a 
well-grown  girl  of  twelve  years  and  as  soft  a  baby's.  They 
have  worked  only  in  kid  gloves.  He  is  a  silk  weaver  and 
knows  nothing  else.  He  has  worked  at  it  all  his  life  and  grew 
up  in  a  silk  mill.  He  has  a  wife  and  five  children.  His  wages 
have  barely  supported  them,  but  his  abilities  have  not  enabled 
him  to  acquire  and  keep  anything,  and  his  perceptions  have 


NATURAL    FORCES.  6/ 

not  enabled  him  to  adapt  his  burdens  and  responsibilities  to 
his  means.  He  has  both  knowledge  and  skill  in  his  trade  but 
has  not  the  faculty  to  judiciously  use  either  in  adapting  him- 
self to  his  environment.  The  mill  is  burned,  or  there  is  a 
strike,  or  the  firm  fails,  or  the  works  are  shut  down  in  a  panic. 
Jones  is  out  of  work  and  he  can  do  nothing  but  weave  silk.  His 
mental  organization  and  environment  have  placed  him  right 
there,  and  starvation  stares  him  right  in  the  face  unless  he 
seeks  relief  from  the  poor  rates.  Take  what  case  you  will  and 
the  same  answer  must  be  returned.  The  conditions  are  the  re- 
sults of  natural  forces  and  they  are  irresistible.  As  far  as  we 
can  learn  their  operations  we  can  adapt  our  actions  ;  but  we 
cannot  change  them  to  meet  our  impulses. 

In  order  to  turn  a  day  laborer,  who  cannot  get  beyond  his 
plane  and  environment  as  such,  into  a  capitalist  and  employer, 
he  must  be  born  again,  thus  :  if  his  perceptions  and  ability  to 
act  can  be  changed,  by  education  in  any  form,  so  that  he  can 
"  acquire,  keep,  and  judiciously  use,"  he  can  begin  to  progress 
toward  the  position  he  would  have  occupied,  had  his  original 
mental  organization  and  environment  given  him  those  faculties. 
The  questions  of  right  and  wrong  as  between  rich  and  poor 
have  nothing  to  do  with  it.  The  only  questions  are  such  as  re- 
late to  existing  conditions  and  the  most  practical  ways  of  deal- 
ing with  those  conditions.  The  conditions  are  hard  facts  and 
sentimentalities  are  out  of  place  in  the  processes  of  reasoning 
by  which  a  practical  way  is  sought. 

A  Jay  Gould  may  acquire,  keep  and  use  a  hundred  millions 
of  dollars.  A  John  Johnson  may  not  be  able  to  secure  enough 
to  eat,  and  he  has  a  wife  and  several  children.  How  can  the 
conditions  be  changed  so  as  to  give  the  Goulds  less  and  the 
Johnsons  more?  One  class  of  speculators  say,  "  by  legal  en- 
actments." Another  says,  "by  moral  and  religious  instruc- 
tions and  prayer, for  Divine  aid."  Still  another  says,  "  by  so- 
cialistic organiz4tion,  and  anti-poverty  associations."  Last, 
comes  the  "  Nationalist,"  and  says,  "  Let  government  carry  on 
all  business,  mobilize  the  people  as  employes,  control  and 
furnish  and  manage  everything."  Well,  all  may  be  made  fac- 
tors in  a  movement,  but  neither  will  accomplish  the  improve- 
ment desired.  Johnson  must  be  given  such  instructions  as  will 


68  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

give  him  the  faculties  to  "  acquire  and  keep,  and  judiciously 
use." 

Now,  the  question  is  placed  between  us  and  the  natural 
forces.  Johnson  is  as  he  is  ;  his  mentality  and  environment 
must  be  taken  as  they  are.  Has  he  the  mental  organism  that 
will  enable  him  to  acquire  the  education,  enlarge  his  percep- 
tions, so  he  can  acquire,  or  acquire  and  keep,  or  acquire,  keep 
and  use  ?  He  may  be  taught  to  acquire,  but  not  to  keep  ;  or  to 
acquire  and  keep,  but  not  to  use  ;  or  to  acquire  and  use,  but  not 
judiciously.  If  he  has  not  the  faculty  to  acquire  all,  he  cannot 
be  advanced.  Legislation  could  not  do  it ;  for  if  you  could 
say  by  law  that  Gould  shall  have  only  ten  thousand  dollars — 
or  any  other  sum — and  if  he  gets  any  more  he  shall  divide 
with  Johnson,  no  matter  by  what  process,  it  could  not  be  en- 
forced. And  if  it  could  be,  Johnson  could  not  keep  and  judi- 
ciously use  it  and  would  waste  it.  If  his  tendencies  are  im- 
moral he  would  use  it  viciously.  So  it  all  comes  back  to  the 
proposition,  that  all  who  can  acquire,  keep  and  judiciously  use 
opportunities  or  means  in  a  practical  way,  will  dominate  and 
govern  those  who  cannot  do  so,  and  they  will  frame  and  con- 
duct government  for  themselves,  to  which  the  others  must 
submit. 

Under  that  government  new  questions  will  constanly  arise 
and  must  be  dealt  with  as  they  come  and  grow,  each  giving  rise 
to  others.  As  to  all  of  them,  natural  forces  will  work  out  their 
legitimate  ends.  If  obstructed  in  one  direction  they  will  form 
new  combinations  and  operate  in  other  directions,  bringing  ex- 
act compensation  in  all  cases.  The  amelioration  of  the  condi- 
tion of  the  defective  and  unfortunate  classes  and  the  curbing 
of  the  unhealthy  ambition  of  others,  is  action  worthy  of  all 
those  of  good  intellect  and  moral  tendencies,  and  is  a  necessity 
to  a  true  civilization.  But  when  we  ask,  "  How  shall  it  be 
done?"  we  must  lay  aside  all  sentimentality,  take  conditions 
just  as  they  exist,  recognize  the  natural  forces,  seek  for  prac- 
tical methods  adapted  to  the  mental  calibre  and  condition  of 
those  to  be  affected,  and  right  here  is  the  point  of  departure 
between  practical  truth  and  sentimentality. 

Charitable  and  prison  associations,  and  all  other  reformers, 
must  practically  recognize  the  facts  here  stated  before  they 


NATURAL    FORCES.  69 

can  make  permanently  beneficial  progress  in  effecting  reforms. 
The  conditions  demand  a  system  of  education  and  training 
through  some  generations  of  teaching,  tending  to  knowledge 
that  will  aid  in  the  pro-creation  of  better  mentality,  in  place  of 
the  offspring  from  indiscriminate  indulgence  within  or  without 
the  marriage  relations,  which  law  and  custom  now  permits, 
and  largely  sanctions,  too  many  of  which  are  deformed,  dis- 
eased, or  deficient  in  mind  and  body.  And  this  is  a  first  requi- 
site to  permanent  reform. 

The  infinite  laws  governing  matter — animate  and  inanimate 
— come  into  existence  with  it.  Mankind  as  a  part  of  animate 
matter  forms  no  exception.  Deity  acts  only  through  those 
laws,  and  we  know  them  as  natural  forces  so  far  as  we  have 
knowledge.  Any  special  interposition  by  him  to  obstruct 
them  would  destroy  equilibrium  and  chaos  would  come.  Igno- 
rance in  relation  to  those  laws  by  individuals  hinders  each  in 
securing  the  best  for  themselves,  separately  and  in  the  aggre- 
gate. Even  where  they  are  known  there  is  more  or  less  disre- 
gard of  them,  or  efforts  to  thwart  their  operation,  and  then,  to 
cure  evils  that  follow  the  efforts  by  further  obstruction. 

In  every  relation  in  life  we  seek  to  destroy  that  which  is 
dangerous  and  vicious,  except  with  ourselves  as  animals.  In 
this  instance  we  seem  to  do  our  best  to  produce  and  perpetu- 
ate that  which  is  most  vicious  and  dangerous,  by  reckless  grat- 
ifications of  mere  animal  impulses  in  many  directions.  When 
the  natural  forces  bring  the  exact  compensation,  we  strive  to 
reject  it  and  secure  some  other,  by  expedients  which  those 
forces  will  not  allow  of  adaptation  to  such  ends.  This  method 
of  evasion,  and  trying  to  substitute  some  artificial  in  place  of 
natural  force,  is  the  line  on  which  too  many  reformers  waste 
their  labor,  while  they  produce  antagonisms  that  create  class 
prejudice,  and  want  of  confidence  in  all  reformers,  on  the 
part  of  those  who  are  sought  to  be  benefitted. 

It  has  been  objected  that  this  view  of  natural  force  is  fatal- 
ity. Not  at  all,  as  fatality  is  understood.  The  theologian  will 
learn  from  the  inspired  source  of  his  philosophy  that  "  the 
leopard  cannot  change  his  spots,"  and  that  "as  a  man  thinketh 
so  is  he."  Quotations  can  be  multiplied.  Had  the  leopard 
been  born  a  tiger  he  would  have  no  spots,  and  he  must  act  on 


7O  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

the  plane  he  is  fitted  for.  So  the  thoughts  the  man  thinketh 
and  that  make  him  what  he  is,  are  like  the  leopard's  spots  and 
he  cannot  change  them  unless  his  mentality  can  be  changed. 
That  may  be  done  in  some  cases  and  in  others  it  cannot,  by 
change  of  environment  and  the  development  of  mental  force 
now  latent  and  inactive,  or  creating  it  if  non-existent.  So  can 
the  leopard's  spots  be  changed  by  domestication  and  chemical 
washes,  and  in  either  case  new  forces  spring  into  activity  under 
the  new  environment,  and  whatever  happens  on  the  new  plane 
is  the  legitimate  result  of  natural  forces,  produced  still  by  the 
mentality  and  surroundings  of  the  individual.  Fatality  is  a 
fixed  condition,  in  which  there  can  be  no  change  and  from 
which  there  can  be  no  escape.  The  mentality  of  the  child 
born  in  the  slums,  with  the  surroundings  of  the  slums,  will  fix 
its  plane,  and  all  that  happens  on  it  will  be  the  direct  result  of 
its  mentality  and  environment,  and  if  left  there  its  fate  is  fixed. 
It  can  never  rise  above  the  level  of  that  plane.  But  it  is  not 
fatality,  for  his  surroundings  and  mentality  may  be  changed, 
and  on  the  new  plane  so  made  for  it,  its  fate  will  be  different. 
Fatality  knows  no  change.  Hence  the  view  presented  is  not 
fatality.  The  same  facts  apply  to  the  convict  in  prison,  but 
with  less  ability  to  effect  change.  His  mental  organs  are  less 
impressible  than  the  child's.  His  experience  involves  a  larger 
memory  of  evil  surroundings;  evil  impressions  are  more  hard- 
ened and  crystallized;  it  is  more  difficult  to  secure  favorable 
surroundings  and  more  difficult  to  adapt  him  to  them  than  in 
the  case  of  the  child.  Yet  in  many  cases  it  is  possible,  and 
a  higher  plane  may  be  reached. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

MARRIAGE. 

THE  three  important  events  in  every  life  are  birth,  marriage 
and  death.  On  birth  depends  the  physical  and  mental 
organism,  and  that  again  depends  on  marriage.  The  physical 
and  mental  status  of  succeeding  generations  depends  on  mar- 
riage in  the  preceding  generations.  Over  his  birth  man  has  no 
control.  Over  his  death  he  has  partial  control,  for  by  wise  use 
of  the  knowledge  within  his  reach  he  can  prolong  his  lease  of  life. 
Over  his  marriage  he  has  entire  control.  Marriage  is  the  most 
important  event  connected  with  human  life.  Its  importance 
cannot  be  overrated.  Yet,  it  receives  less  serious  and  practical 
consideration  than  any  other  thing.  Marriage  is  generally  re- 
garded as  something  within  the  domain  of  romance,  mixed  up 
more  or  less  with  love  and  passion ;  sometimes  including  the 
mercenary  among  the  incidents,  and  sometimes  the  compul- 
sory, without  love.  The  Church  regards  it  as  a  sacrament — a 
holy  covenant ;  and  the  state  declares  it  a  civil  contract,  into 
which  females  from  sixteen  to  eighteen  years  of  age  may  enter, 
while  they  are  not  qualified  to  enter  into  any  other  contract 
under  twenty-one  years. 

In  fact,  marriage  is  the  very  highest  and  most  serious  order 
of  business ;  and  there  is  no  action  in  his  life  in  which  man 
should  use  every  element  of  judgment  with  such  scrupulous 
care  as  in  contracting  marriage.  Usually,  marriage  is  supposed 
to  be  founded  on  love.  In  truth,  love  is  the  outgrowth  of 
marriage.  Love  is  usually  regarded  as  a  passion,  but  it  is  not. 
Passion  is  impulsive,  short-lived,  and  soon  consumes  itself. 
Love  is  of  slow  growth,  and  will  germinate  and  flourish  only 
in  the  soil  of  profound  respect ;  respect  born  of  knowledge 
that  its  object  is  worthy  of  it,  and  it  appeals  to  the  highest 
intelligence  and  purest  motives.  It  cannot  be  founded  on  tem- 
porary impressions,  however  favorable.  Admiration  is  mistaken 


72  THE    PRISON   QUESTION. 

for  profound  respect  and  for  love.  The  impulses  following, 
may  stimulate  the  imagination  to  clothe  the  object  with  the 
most  lovable  qualities,  feed  passion  with  dreams  and  reveries 
full  of  romance,  but  it  is  not  love.  Marriage  under  such  a 
supposition  leaves  the  parties  to  awaken  sooner  or  later  to  a 
feeling  of  restraint,  and  they  long  to,  if  they  do  not  break 
through  it.  All  the  caution,  inquiry,  investigation  and  thorough 
continued  effort  one  is  capable  of  making,  should  be  brought 
into  operation  to  ascertain  if  the  conditions  exist  to  create 
mutual  and  profound  respect.  Unless  they  do,  there  can  never 
be  any  real  love.  If  they  do,  love  will  grow  there  and  be  strong 
and  vigorous ;  growing  stronger  as  time  passes ;  enduring ; 
never  wearying;  like  the  ivy  and  the  oak,  inseparable  even  in 
death.  In  this,  as  in  other  cases,  what  we  call  accident,  but 
really  the  outgrowths  of  conditions  —  sometimes  forms  unions 
on  real  love  without  this  investigation,  but  it  is  seldom. 
Hence  so  much  domestic  discord. 

The  man  and  woman  who  so  marry  will  not  rear  criminals, 
or  scrofulitics,  or  idiots.  They  will  not  be  parties  to  the  pro- 
creation of  deformities,  disease  and  criminal  mentalities.  As  I 
have  shown  in  the  chapter  on  "  Mind,"  marriage  is  the  abso- 
lute union  of  two  minds.  Not  the  temporary  attraction  and 
mingling  of  two  mind  energies,  but  the  actual  union  of  those 
energies,  so  blended  and  united  that  each  lives  in  the  other 
and  for  the  other,  and  each  seeks  to  keep  itself  worthy  to  be 
respected  and  loved  by  a  common  impulse. 

This,  and  this  alone,  is  true  marriage.  Neither  church  or 
state  can  add  to  or  take  from  it.  Public  policy  requires  cer- 
tain formalities  called  marriage  and  the  law  authorizes  certain 
persons  to  perform  them,  but  that  is  only  the  evidence  of  the 
civil  contract.  With  the  mind  union  there  is  the  real  marriage. 
Without  the  mind  union  it  is  only  a  contract.  In  any  case  the 
legal  contract  operates  only  to  secure  certain  private  and  pub- 
lic legal  rights. 

The  legitimate  objects  of  marriage  are  to  establish  and  main- 
tain an  orderly  and  moral  relation  between  the  sexes,  and 
make  provisions  for  the  proper  nurture  and  protection  of  the 
offspring  that  may  follow  that  relation.  To  prevent  promis- 
cuous commerce  between  the  sexes  and  the  debasing  conse- 


MARRIAGE.  73 

quences  attendant.  To  create  home  circles,  close  domestic 
relations,  and  the  foundation  for  social  conditions  that  are  ele- 
vating in  influence,  and  admit  of  limited  action  for  the  preser- 
vation of  morality  and  liberty. 

The  state  has  taken  charge  of  the  subject  of  marriage  and 
undertakes  to  regulate  it  by  statute ;  declares  it  a  civil  contract 
between  a  man  and  a  woman  ;  how  it  may  be  made  and  how 
annulled  ;  what  the  personal  and  property  relations  as  between 
the  parties,  and  the  personal  and  legal  obligations  as  to  each 
other,  their  offspring,  society  and  the  state  shall  be,  during  life, 
at  separation,  and  in  case  of  death.  It  allows  only  one  exist- 
ing contract  and  authorizes  judicial  officers  and  ministers  of  the 
church  to  perform  the  ceremony.  It  requires  a  state's  license 
to  be  taken  out,  fixes  the  conditions  for  license,  levies  a  tax  for 
its  issue,  requires  a  record  to  be  kept  of  the  license  and  the  cer- 
tificate of  the  officer  as  to  the  ceremony  under  it.  In  certain 
cases  of  minority  it  requires  sworn  statements  as  to  age,  and 
consent  of  parent  or  guardian.  It  prohibits  marriage  between 
certain  persons,  declares  marriage  void  in  certain  cases,  and  ex- 
ercises complete  control  and  jurisdiction  over  the  persons  and 
subject-matter  at  the  will  of  the  legislature,  as  it  deems  best 
for  the  public  policy,  regardless  of  any  of  the  real  or  supposed 
rights  or  liberties  of  the  person  as  an  individual.  But  it 
reaches  a  most  "  lame  and  impotent  conclusion  "  in  its  provis- 
ions and  there  stops,  leaving  the  doors  wide  open  to  the  en- 
trance of  irreparable  evils,  and  by  its  provisions  as  made,  and 
its  omissions  to  make  other  provisions,  it  invites  the  entrance 
of  those  evils,  and  sanctions  and  protects  their  authors  when 
they  come.  That  is  to  say,  it  creates  conditions  out  of  which 
natural  forces  irresistibly  produce  those  evils  in  their  legitimate 
operations. 

Here  begins  the  dividing  line  between  wisdom  and  unwis- 
dom in  the  law.  Here  lies  the  utter  inconsistency  in  the 
motive  of  the  legislature  regulating  marriage  with  a  view  to 
protecting  individuals  and  the  public  ;  a  pretence  of  affording 
protection  and  at  the  same  time  not  infringe  the  "  liberty  of 
the  citizen."  In  regulating  marriage  the  law  says  that  none 
shall  marry  within  the  third  degree  of  consanguinity,  and  in 
some  states  the  fourth,  because  marriage  between  near  blood 


74  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

relations  is  likely  to  produce  offspring  deformed  or  diseased, 
physically  and  mentally.  Insane  and  idiots  shall  not  marry, 
because  they  cannot  make  a  contract  and  because  of  hereditary 
tendency  to  produce  idiots  and  insanity.  It  makes  it  a  crime 
to  marry  in  any  of  these  cases.  In  this,  it  aims  to  prevent  de- 
generate offspring  and  protect  individuals  and  society  against 
the  evils  that  would-  attend  such  offspring. 

But,  if  the  vilest  mortal  that  can  live — one  not  in  these 
classes — sees  proper  to  marry,  the  law  issues  the  license  for  the 
asking,  takes  the  fee,  makes  the  record,  and  leaves  the  off- 
spring and  society  to  shift  for  themselves  in  the  best  way  they 
can.  The  confirmed  inebriate,  the  weak-minded  and  semi- 
idiotic,  the  confirmed  criminal,  the  offspring  of  the  half-witted 
and  insane,  if  lucid  at  the  time,  the  incurably  diseased,  the 
scrofulitic,  the  syphilitic,  the  hereditary  pauper,  the  depraved 
A  and  reckless — even  paupers  while  in  the  poorhouse  and  crim- 
inals while  in  jail  are  in  every  way  encouraged,  given  license, 
and  are  protected  by  the  law.  No  thought  is  taken  for  the  un- 
fortunate offspring,  or  for  the  body  politic  or  social,  and  the 
irreparable  evils  that  must  fall  upon  all.  The  church  adds  its 
sanction  and  its  ministers  aid  in  making  these  civil  contracts,  by 
performing  the  ceremony  with  prayers  and  benedictions.  Not 
in  all  cases,  but  in  too  many.  If  it  is  wise  to  prohibit  polygamy, 
marriage  between  near  relations,  between  the  insane  and 
idiotic,  because  of  heredity  and  transmission  of  evils,  it  is 
equally  wise  to  prohibit  it  in  all  cases  where  like  evils  may  fol- 
low. If  the  law  has  the  power  to  prohibit  and  punish  viola- 
tion in  the  one  case,  it  has  equal  right  in  all  others. 

There  is  an  endless  procession  of  children  from  all  these 
sources  coming  into  the  mass  of  the  population  to  live  lives  of 
crime,  immorality,  want,  suffering,  misfortune,  and  degenera- 
tion, transmitting  the  taint  in  constantly  widening  streams, 
generation  after  generation,  with  the  ultimate  certainty  of  the 
deterioration  of  the  race,  and  final  irreparable  degeneracy. 
With  the  utmost  care  for  prevention,  there  will  be  enough  dis- 
eased and  deformed  from  accident  and  violations  of  law  to  tax 
the  energies  of  the  people  in  preserving  morals,  and  intellect- 
ual supremacy  and  progress.  But  with  this  constant  tide,  bear- 
ing the  scum  of  reprobacy  and  vice,  ebbing  and  flowing  through 


MARRIAGE.  75 

the  social  sea  and  depositing  its  baneful  sediment  and  froth 
everywhere,  on  every  shore,  there  can  be  but  one  final  end.  It 
is  simply  appalling  to  recognize  it,  much  more  to  reflect  upon 
it. 

The  reason  given  for  the  absence  of  legislative  prohibition 
is,  that  it  would  be  an  infringement  "  upon  the  liberty  of  the 
citizen;"  the  rights  of  the  individual;  and  that  the  prohibitory 
legislation  could  not  be  enforced.  Let  us  see  how  far  this  posi- 
tion is  tenable. 

A  man  wants  to  run  a  steamer  to  carry  passengers  and  freight, 
The  law  disregards  his  individual  rights.  It  says,  ''  You  can't 
do  it.  But  if  you  will  have  your  boat  examined  by  govern- 
ment officials  and  she  is  admitted  to  registry,  and  you  are 
found  qualified  to  navigate  her,  license  will  be  given  to  you. 
The  lives  and  property  of  others  must  be  protected."  So  if 
one  wants  to  act  as  pilot,  to  bring  vessels  out  and  into  the  har- 
bor, or  run  a  tug  for  towing  them ;  both  must  submit  to  exam- 
ination and  be  found  fit  for  the  position.  The  safety  and  wel- 
fare of  the  public  is  alone  considered.  A  man  wants  to  retail 
liquors.  The  law  says,  "  You  cannot  do  it  only  on  specific  con- 
ditions. Petition  the  county  court  or  board,  and  get  a  certain 
number  of  responsible  freeholders  and  householders  to  join 
you.  Set  forth  the  exact  lot  and  room  where  you  are  to  sell. 
Give  notice  publicly  in  a  paper  and  by  posting  when  and  where 
the  petition  will  be  heard,  so  others  can  appear  and  oppose  it 
if  they  desire.  Go  before  the  court,  prove  your  notice,  prove 
the  qualifications  of  your  co-petitioners,  prove  by  reliable 
evidence  that  you  are  a  man  of  good  moral  character,  fit  to  be 
trusted  with  a  license  and  that  you  do  not  get  drunk  yourself. 
Contract  with  the  state  that  you  will  not  sell  on  election  days 
or  on  any  public  holidays,  nor  to  minors,  nor  persons  intoxi- 
cated, nor  in  the  habit  of  becoming  so ;  nor  sell  on  Sundays, 
or  before  five  A.  M.,  nor  after  10  P.  M.;  that  you  will  keep  an 
orderly  house,  and  pay  to  any  person  all  damages  they  may 
sustain  because  of  any  violation  of  the  contract  on  your  part. 
Execute  bond  with  security  binding  you  to  this  contract. 
Then  pay  into  the  treasury  the  sum  required,  and  license  will 
be  given  to  you  to  sell  in  that  room,  at  that  place,  to  be  drank 
there  and  nowhere  else.  On  these  conditions  only  can  you. 


76  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

have  it.''  Why  all  this  ?  Simply  for  protection  of  individuals 
and  the  public  against  possible  injury.  A  man  wants  to  prac- 
tice law,  or  medicine,  or  pharmacy,  or  act  as  notary,  and  he  is 
barred  unless  he  submits  to  examination  and  shows  a  fitness 
for  the  place  and  its  duties.  When  that  is  done  license  issues 
and  not  before.  The  instances  can  be  multiplied  indefinitely, 
and  in  many  cases — like  the  notary — it  involves  only  dollars 
and  cents.  And  this  to  prevent  injuries  to  the  individuals  and 
the  public  that  are  possible  and  not  at  all  certain.  In  most 
cases  they  are  very  remote.  In  no  one  case  is  there  any 
thought  or  fear  of  "infringing  the  rights  of  the  citizen." 

Now,  if  to  prevent  possible  and  not  certain  evils,  the  law  can 
interfere  and  does  interfere,  why  may  it  not  and  should  it 
not  interfere  to  prevent  certain  and  irreparable  evils  and  in- 
jury; not  only  to  individuals,  but  to  the  entirety  of  the  bodies 
corporal,  social  and  political ;  not  only  for  the  present,  but  for 
generations  without  limit  ?  Why  should  it  not  say  to  one  who 
proposes  to  assume  the  marriage  relation  and  become  the  pos- 
sible and  probable  parent  of  offspring  and  the  head  of  a  family  : 
"You  must  be  fit  for  the  place  and  able  to  assume  and  dis- 
charge the  obligations  and  duties  it  will  entail.  You  must 
show  that  no  injury  will  come  to  individuals  or  the  public. 
You  must  swear  in  your  application  that  you  do  not  come 
within  the  prohibited  classes  ;  and  show  that  you  are  fit  to  be 
trusted  with  the  grave  responsibility?" 

Is  it  any  more  an  infringement  on  personal  right  than  it  is 
in  case  of  selling  liquor?  Are  the  evils  resulting  from  marriage 
by  one  wholly  unfit  for  the  relations  greater  and  more  far- 
reaching,  or  are  they  less  than  those  possible  in  the  incipient 
stages  of  whiskey  and  beer?  Is  it  of  more  consequence  to  es- 
tablish a  board  of  health  to  prevent  the  sale  of  diseased  meat, 
or  isolate  a  small-pox  patient,  or  quarantine  one  with  scarlet 
fever  or  yellow  fever  or  cholera,  than  it  is  to  prevent  the  pro- 
duction of  scrofulitic,  syphilitic,  criminal,  idiotic,  and  incurably 
deformed  and  diseased  children,  and  pauper  children  by  the 
million,  generation  after  generation?  Is  it  of  more  importance 
to  examine  a  glandered  horse  or  lumpy-jawed  ox  and  order 
them  killed,  lest  some  other  horses  or  oxen  become  affected, 
and  have  an  official  commission  for  the  business,  than  it  is  that 


MARRIAGE.  77 

a  vile,  diseased  and  debauched  criminal,  or  a  demented  person 
should  submit  to  examination  when  they  would  assume  a  rela-~>. 
tion  that  may  send  down  their  vicious  taint  for  generations,  / 
and  that  there  should  be  a  competent  official  commission  to 
do  the  business  ?  Is  the  law  wise  or  justified  that  compels  the 
former  and  ignores  the  latter,  on  any  claim  or  pretense  what- 
ever ?  Are  the  duties  and  relations  to  the  public  of  a  notary 
or  pilot  of  more  importance  than  those  of  the  parent  of  chil- 
dren and  the  head  of  a  family  ?  The  objection  is  clearly  not 
tenable  for  a  moment.  Society  has  a  right  to  protect  itself 
against  any  and  all  evils  and  to  punish  or  isolate  offenders 
against  its  decrees,  and  it  has  the  power  by  legal  enactment. 
No  individual  liberty  or  right  is  paramount  to  the  general 
good.  The  law  may  fix  as  many  or  more  conditions  to  mar- 
riage in  its  regulations  as  it  has  made,  and  as  may  be  necessary 
to  guard  against  any  evils  growing  out  of  the  relation  in  any 
case,  just  as  it  has  fixed  those  already  on  the  statute.  It  may 
prohibit  marriage  between  any  kinds  of  persons  it  may  deem 
proper.  It  may  provide  for  examination  of  applicants  for  license 
by  a  proper  board  of  examiners,  and  it  may  affix  penalties  for 
violation  of  its  provisions.  It  may  provide  for  the  removal 
and  isolation  of  such  as  violate  them.  It  may  even  proceed  to 
the  emasculation  of  such  as  are  especially  vicious  and  danger- 
ous, or  who  continue  to  violate  the  law  and  produce  offspring 
tainted  with  vicious  disease,  or  otherwise  deformed  or  de- 
mented, being  among  the  prohibited  class.  It  may  make  pro- 
visions dispensing  with  personal  examination  in  such  cases  and 
on  such  conditions  as  may  be  named  ;  or  requiring  it  in  specific 
cases  only,  and  provide  penalties  for  violation  of  provisions  as 
in  other  cases  of  offense,  and  leave  the  parties  to  risk  detec- 
tion and  punishment,  by  marrying  without  examination  in 
cases  where  it  may  be  required. 

Another  objection  is,  that  men  and  women  will  not  be  re- 
strained and  that  such  prohibition  would  produce  indiscriminate 
sexual  commerce,  with  increased  instead  of  diminished  evils. 
It  does  not  follow  at  all.  The  law-making  power  is  ample  to 
afford  protection  on  every  side.  It  can  regulate  the  social  evil 
as  well  as  it  can  any  other  evil.  It  cannot  make  people  any 
more  perfect  than  the  Almighty  has  done,  but  it  can  limit  and 


78  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

restrain  to  a  certain  extent  in  the  preservation  of  order  and 
morals,  and  as  to  the  social  evils  with  others,  it  can  provide 
for,  license  and  regulate  women  and  houses  as  well  as  it  can  for 
liquor  and  houses.  It  can  establish  a  board  of  inspection  and 
health  and  require  cleanliness  and  submission  to  authority  as 
well  as  it  can  for  diseased  provisions,  contagious  diseases,  and 
dangerous  illuminants,  oils,  and  explosives,  the  use  of  firearms, 
and  against  the  improper  use  and  spread  of  fire.  It  can  require 
them  to  be  kept  orderly  and  prohibit  indulgence  elsewhere,  as 
well  as  it  can  with  saloons  and  the  sale  of  drugs,  narcotics  and 
poisons  and  other  dangerous  compounds,  and  can  limit  the 
hours  during  which  they  may  be  kept  open,  as  it  does  in  other 
cases  where  that  is  deemed  important.  For  people  who  will 
have  liquor,  and  poisonous  drugs,  and  other  dangerous  com- 
pounds, it  already  provides,  and  it  can  make  like  provisions  in 
any  other  respect  where  evils  affect  or  may  affect  the  public. 
It  can  as  rightly,  and  much  more  properly  and  wisely  do  it, 
than  it  can  provide  for  a  public  market  with  its  stalls,  rules,  in- 
pection  and  police  supervision  and  market  master,  compel 
dealers  to  occupy  it,  pay  for  license,  and  prohibit  the  transac- 
tion of  market  business  anywhere  else,  under  penalties  and 
punishment.  It  can  imprison  and  perpetually  isolate  all  who 
continue  to  violate  its  prohibitions  and  put  it  beyond  their 
power  to  repeat  offences.  It  can  limit  as  to  numbers  and  as 
to  times  and  occasions  for  frequenting,  as  well  as  it  can  for 
saloon  and  market  days  and  hours.  It  already  declares  adultery 
and  fornication,  and  seduction,  and  keeping  a  house  of  ill- 
fame,  and  frequenting  one,  and  associating  with  lewd  persons, 
crimes.  It  can  provide  for  and  regulate  places  where  and  con- 
ditions under  which  a  board  of  health  and  police  surveillance 
can  keep  these  evils  in  constant  check  and  reduce  them  to  the 
minimum  that  it  is  possible  under  human  regulations,  and  pre- 
vent indiscriminate  commerce.  The  lack  of  this  board  of 
health  and  police  surveillance,  as  part  of  a  license  system,  is  the 
reason  former  attempts  to  license  the  social  evil  have  failed.  It 
has  never  been  tried  anywhere  with  such  boards  as  a  fixed  part 
of  a  license  system. 

It  seems  to  me  that  there  is  a  moral  obliquity  that  affects 
the  entire  mass   of  political,   social  and    religious  leaders  and 


MARRIAGE.  79 

teachers  on  the  subject  here  being  considered.  When  we  an- 
alyze the  views  and  action  throughout,  the  glaring  inconsist- 
ency and  unreasonableness  that  seems  to  fill  them  has  no  par- 
allel in  any  other  matter  seriously  affecting  individual  and  the 
public  welfare.  Among  the  first  is  a  false  modesty,  that  is 
shocked  by  any  allusions  to  the  most  evident  and  debasing 
facts,  that  stare  everybody  in  the  face  on  all  sides ;  that  rub 
against  everybody  at  every  turn  ;  that  legislators,  reformers 
and  clergymen  are  contending  with  incessantly.  While  the 
powers  of  human  invention  are  making  exhaustive  efforts  to 
provide  for  the  safety  and  betterment  of  humanity  in  all  direc- 
tions, all  eyes  seem  closed  or  blinded  to  the  avenues  that  admit 
the  most  serious  dangers  to  it.  They  can  see  that  the  would- 
be  pharmacist,  physician  and  accoucheur  finds  his  way  barred 
until  he  can  show  that  he  is  qualified  to  deal  with  dangerous 
compounds,  and  with  human  health  and  life.  They  can  see 
that  the  man  who  would  become  a  soldier  and  learn  the  art  of 
war,  learn  how  to  kill  and  maim  people  and  attack  and  destroy 
property  in  war,  whether  he  be  soldier  or  footpad,  finds  en- 
trance to  the  ranks  barred  until  a  government  official  strips 
him,  examines  him  as  to  bodily  perfection  and  health,  and 
next  as  to  mental  ability  and  moral  perception  to  learn  the 
manual  of  arms,  the  routine  of  discipline  and  service,  obedience 
to  regulations  and  orders,  and  subordination  to  superiors.  If 
he  is  found  competent  he  can  gain  admission  for  only  five 
years,  and  during  that  time  the  government  must  contract  to 
keep  him.  If  the  same  kind  of  man,  or  any  man,  wants  to 
enter  the  matrimonial  ranks,  the  doors  are  wide  open.  To  pro- 
tect itself  against  a  bad  soldier,  or  one  it  may  have  to  keep  in 
prison  or  hospital,  for  only  five  years  at  most,  government 
requires  and  exercises  every  precaution.  But  the  recruit  in 
the  matrimonial  ranks  may  serve  for  life,  and  his  influence  ex- 
tend to  future  generations,  and  he  may  fill  a  hospital  or  prison 
with  his  offspring.  Surely,  to  know  that  one  is  qualified  to 
beget  and  care  for  human  beings  fit  to  live,  is  as  important  as 
to  know  how  to  kill  them.  But  it  is  immodest  to  present  this 
last  view. 

The    church  devotes   its   time  and   energies   to    prove   that 
every  human  body  possesses  an   immortal  spiritual  body,  that 


80  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

is  liable  to  future  torture  unless  it  be  made  perfect  in  morals 
and  truth,  and  that  must  be  done  while  it  remains  within  its 
mortal  shell.  It  pleads  and  raves  for  prohibition  of  liquors  and 
tobacco,  for  forced  observance  of  Sunday,  for  forced  attend- 
ance on  schools,  for  recognition  of  God,  Christ,  and  the  Pro- 
testant religion  in  the  civil  constitutions,  and  for  sundry  other 
restraints  and  commands  with  penalties,  in  order  to  save  these 
imperiled  souls.  Reformers  go  about  the  land  devising  ways 
and  means  to  educate,  civilize,  provide  for  and  elevate,  the 
ignorant,  the  degraded,  the  poverty  stricken  that  pervade 
every  plane  of  human  action,  and  wander  in  and  out  among 
the  people  everywhere.  And  yet  these,  with  general  society 
added,  hold  up  their  hands  before  their  faces  in  horror,  if  some 
honest  soul  who  has  truth  for  a  guide,  calls  to  them  to  look, 
and  points  them  to  the  source  of  the  evils  they  are  battling 
with  and  tells  them  they  are  responsible  for  it  all,  for  the  law 
is  only  their  united  will  in  statutory  phraseology.  That  it  is 
the  result  of  their  voluntary  blindness  and  false  conception  of 
civil,  moral  and  religious  duties.  That  they  are  seeking  to 
deal  with  evil  conditions  alone,  instead  of  the  causes  of  them, 
and  while  trying  to  mitigate  the  evils  in  the  results,  are  sup- 
porting, increasing  and  enlarging  the  causes.  That  on  every 
other  plane  of  action  they  recognize  and  deal  with  the  causes  ; 
but  with  men  and  women  they  ignore  the  causes  and  battle 
with  results  alone.  That  they  regard  domestic  brutes  as  of 
more  importance  than  they  do  human  beings. 

This  same  fallacy  as  to  "  individual  liberty  "  existed  in  rela- 
tion to  the  cattle  only  a  little  while  ago,  and  there  are  a  few 
fossils  who  advocate  it  yet.  Swine,  sheep,  horses  and  other 
stock  were  permitted  to  run  at  large  and  intermingle  at  will. 
The  country  was  full  of  "  scrubs."  A  proposition  to  shut  them 
up  was  met  with  a  howl  of  indignation  and  derision.  But  they 
have  been  shut  up.  Even  in  the  few  places  where  yet  permit- 
ted to  run  at  large,  the  males  are  prohibited,  and  it  is  made 
criminal  for  the  owner  to  permit  it.  The  breeding  of  live  stock 
is  encouraged  ;  state,  society  and  church,  vie  with  each  other  in 
that  encouragement,  and  attend  exhibitions  of  improved  brutes 
and  are  unsparing  in  approval,  plaudits  and  commendation  of 
the  splendid  results  that  have  attended  the  process  of  dealing 


MARRIAGE.  8l. 

with  causes  instead  of  conditions.  The  "  scrubs  "  have  disap- 
peared ;  and  in  their  places  have  come  strong,  sightly,  intelli- 
gent, useful  and  profitable  animals,  for  every  kind  of  use  and 
station.  Women  and  children  gaze  with  admiration  and  ap- 
plause upon  the  splendid  males  and  females  among  the  many 
distinct  breeds  of  horses,  jacks,  cattle,  swine,  sheep,  fowls,  dogs, 
cats,  rabbits,  goats,  and  other  animals.  There  is  no  false  mod- 
esty about  it.  But  let  it  be  even  suggested  that  the  very  same 
laws  apply  to  human  animals,  and  the  very  same  practices  in 
relation  to  them  will  produce  like  results,  and  the  disgust  man- 
ifested tells  the  would-be  benefactor  that  he  is  classed  among 
the  vulgar. 

What  kind  of  a  divine  economy  would  that  be  considered, 
which  recognizes  a  moral  distinction  between  a  real  brute  with 
four  legs  and  one  with  two?  That  would  encourage  the  breed- 
ing of  brutal,  mangy  children,  and  condemn  the  breeding  of 
mangy  colts  or  cattle  ?  That  would  destroy  a  glandered  horse 
and  approve  the  rearing  of  syphilitic  and  scrofulitic  children  ? 
Who  would  recognize  such  a  divinity,  much  less  worship  it  and 
make  it  the  foundation  for  a  religion,  and  churches,  and  con- 
secrated teachers,  and  sacraments,  and  prayers,  and  hymns  of 
praise  ?  Can  a  human  economy  of  that  character  be  any  more 
tolerable  than  a  divine  one  would  be?  Can  a  human  legisla- 
ture, or  church,  or  society,  justly  or  wisely  create  and  maintain 
or  tolerate  distinctions  that  a  divine  economy  would  not? 
Such  a  conclusion  would  be  not  only  unworthy  of  a  sane  human 
intellect,  but  is  a  degredation  of  human  intelligence  to  the  level 
of  brute  intelligence. 

History  tells  us  of  one  people  among  the  Grecian  provinces 
that  recognized  what  I  am  contending  for  and  what  a  false  use 
of  the  benefits  of  civilization  now  persists  in  ignoring.  Sparta 
regarded  the  human  race  within  her  borders  as  of  more  value 
than  her  animals,  and  she  legislated  for  it  and  sought  to  im- 
prove it  as  we  do  our  animals,  and  with  the  most  pronounced 
success.  She  had  no  stream  of  demented,  deformed,  diseased 
and  criminal  human  offspring  of  like  parentage,  pouring  into  her 
social  channels.  No  orre  unfit,  was  permitted  to  become  a  par- 
ent ;  and  a  more  chivalrous,  stalwart  and  beautiful  race  has  never 
inhabited  the  earth.  Without  Sparta  there  would  have  been 


-82  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

no  Athens.  Yet  they  were  no  more  so  than  the  race  would  be 
now,  if  the  law,  society,  and  the  church  would  discard  its  falla- 
cious reasoning,  abandon  its  false  and  mistaken  policies,  leave 
behind  its  romance  and  sentimentalisms,  lay  down  its  supersti- 
tions, recognize  the  economy  of  a  real  divinity,  adapt  them- 
selves to  the  operation  of  the  natural,  irresistible  forces  hurled 
into  existence  with  matter  by  that  divinity  and  apparent  to 
all  who  will  look  for  them,  and  deal  with  the  causes  of  degen- 
erate humanity  instead  of  with  the  results  of  that  degeneracy 
only. 

What  wisdom  is  there  in  the  policy,  or  what  truth  is  there  in 
the  religion,  or  what  real  charity  is  there  in  the  benevolence,  or 
what  stability  is  there  in  the  reform,  that  builds  and  maintains 
institutions  for  the  insane,  the  feeble-minded,  the  foundlings, 
the  paupers,  the  incurably  diseased,  the  incorrigible  youths,  the 
felons,  and  the  petty  offenders ;  the  taxation  of  sound,  honest, 
moral  and  industrious  people,  and  the  forced  conversion  of  the 
products  of  their  labor  to  the  maintenance  of  these  places  by 
the  hundreds,  all  over  the  land  ;  and  at  the  same  time,  the  per- 
mission of  usages  and  social  conditions  that  keep  them  con- 
stantly filled  with  inmates,  yearly  increasing  in  numbers  and 
in  physical  and  mental  deterioration?  What  blindness  is  it 
that  makes  a  distinction  between  a  brutal,  vicious,  conscience- 
less, diseased  male,  going  at  large  up  and  down  the  land  with- 
out restraint,  indulging  his  brutal  impulses,  leaving  his  dis- 
eased and  viciously  tainted  offspring  for  the  public  to  care 
for,  whether  he  goes  on  four  legs  or  two,  and  makes  himself 
heard  by  a  brutal  roar  or  by  articulated  speech  ?  And  that 
believes  a  Divine  Providence  makes  a  distinction,  and  gives 
one  an  immortal  soul  to  be  saved  or  lost  and  to  the  other 
none,  and  for  that  reason  the  one  with  two  legs  must  be 
tolerated  and  left  at  large?  He  may  just  evade  the  hand  of 
the  criminal  law,  and  yet  he  may  taint  every  moral  element, 
trample  on  every  moral  law,  disregard  social  decency  and 
order,  debauch  virtue,  make  a  bauble  of  chastity,  defy  and 
sneer  at  public  opinion,  furnish  inmates  for  prisons,  homes  for 
abandoned  women  and  children,  lying-in  hospitals,  paupers  for 
alms-houses  and  work-houses,  and  leave  poison  to  affect  gen- 
erations ;  and  yet,  so  long  as  he  commits  no  overt  act  so  as  to 


MARRIAGE.  83 

be  taken  red-handed,  hands  must  not  be  laid  on  him,  and  if  he 
comes  to  the  law  and  asks  for  license  to  be  married,  the  law 
gives  it  for  the  asking,  and  the  judge  with  the  dignity  of  his 
office,  or  the  minister  with  prayers  and  benedictions,  will  per- 
form the  ceremony. 

The  same  reasoning  is  applicable  to  the  worthless,  unbal- 
anced creature  that  comes  onto  the  plane  of  the  hereditary- 
pauper,  too  ignorant  or  worthless  to  secure  food  to  live  on,  but 
with  the  ability  to  force  upon  the  community  a  worthless  and 
vicious  posterity  without  limit  as  to  number,  and  largely  under 
the  sanction  of  legal  marriage.  So  of  the  high  intelligence  but 
criminal  mentality  that  preys  upon  society  and  renders  life 
and  property  insecure.  So  of  the  incurably  diseased,  the  weak- 
minded,  and  those  of  insane  tendencies.  What  rational  dis- 
tinction can  be  made  between  these  and  the  leper  in  providing 
for  the  public  safety?  In  the  latter  there  is  no  wrong — only 
misfortune.  Yet  we  claim  the  right  to  lay  hands  on  him,  put 
him  away  from  his  fellows,  and  perpetually  exclude  him  lest 
he  shall  communicate  his  incurable  affection  to  another.  Why 
have  we  not  equal  right  to  lay  hands  on  the  others,  isolate 
them,  and  prevent  the  spread  of  the  contagion  they  will,  other- 
wise, distribute  far  and  wide  ?  The  plea  of  a  "  human  soul " 
is  lost  here,  for  both  have  souls.  On  that  line  what  becomes  of 
the  argument  of  the  souls  when  the  question  comes  before  the 
church  or  the  reformer,  of  why  should  these  vicious  classes  be 
free  to  propagate  their  kind  and  bring  into  being  millions  of 
souls  on  the  planes  where  all  must  be  lost?  Under  what  rule  of 
logic  or  philosophy  can  you  say  to  the  law,  "  Hands  off,  the  lib- 
erty of  the  person  is  sacred,  the  rights  of  the  individual  must 
not  be  interfered  with,"  when,  by  isolating  this  one  vicious 
body  with  a  soul,  you  can  prevent  the  production  of  many 
more  vicious  bodies  with  souls,  all  of  which  are  likely  or  cer- 
tain to  be  lost  ?  The  civil  constitutions  guarantee  against  only 
"  unreasonable  searches  and  seizures,"  and  such  as  are  made 
must  be  done  in  pursuance  of  law.  Is  such  a  seizure  unrea- 
sonable in  one  case  and  not  in  the  other?  If  the  law  author- 
izes one  cannot  it  authorize  the  other? 

And  the   Reformer;    how  shall    he'  succeed    in    permanent 
reforms    if    he   permits   the   constant   production    of    subjects 


84  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

needing  reform,  when  he  is  not  now  able  to  reform  those 
existing,  nor  able  to  solve  "  the  prison  question?" 

And  the  Law ;  how  shall  it  continue  to  protect  individuals 
and  society,  if  it  continues  to  license  for  marriage  all  who  ask 
for  license,  and  sanction  as  legitimate  results  of  good  govern- 
ment the  constant  production  of  these  vicious  classes?  I  do 
not  mean  malignant,  but  from  which  vice  of  various  kinds 
inevitably  breeds  continually. 

And  Society ;  how  shall  it  preserve  moral  purity  or  even 
ascendency,  if  it  continues  to  hide  behind  a  mask  of  false 
modesty  and  pride,  and  refuses  to  recognize  conditions  that 
exist,  and  refuses  to  build  up  and  enforce  a  public  opinion  that 
by  law  will  remove  the  causes  that  produce  these  conditions? 

"  Necessity  knows  no  law,"  and  "  self-preservation  is  the  first 
law  of  nature,"  are  propositions  as  old  as  historical  time.  We 
recognize  them  in  everything,  except  in  this  case  of  most  vital 
necessity,  this  most  certain  danger  of  unrestrained  marriage 
and  indiscriminate  propagation.  •  If  self-defence  is  justified  by 
law  for  the  individual,  it  should  be  justified  by  law  for  society, 
in  proportion  that  the  importance  of  society  is  greater  than 
that  of  the  individual.  If,  to  save  life,  limb  and  mortal  injury, 
one  may  repel  his  assailant  not  only  to  disabling  him,  but  to 
the  taking  of  life,  to  save  life,  limb,  and  mortal  injury,  society 
may  repel  its  assailants  not  only  to  the  point  of  emasculation, 
but  to  the  taking  of  life ;  and  the  policy  that  denies  it  is  a 
cowardly  policy,  and  the  public  opinion  that  does  not  enforce 
it  is  a  false  and  cowardly  one,  and  can  produce  nothing  but 
injustice  to  the  human  race. 

The  final  objection  is,  that  such  legislation  as  is  suggested 
cannot  be  enforced. 

Why  not,  as  well  and  completely  as  any  other  legislation  in 
support  of  public  health  and  morals,  and  against  public 
wrongs?  Hundreds  of  statutory  provisions  exist  for  this  pur- 
pose. Note  a  few.  Any  person,  with  intent  to  steal,  who 
shall  take,  carry,  lead,  or  drive  away  the  personal  goods  of 
another,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  larceny,  and  a  penalty  is 
affixed.  Any  person  who  shall  make  any  sale,  assignment  or 
transfer  of  property,  with  intenl  to  defraud  purchasers,  or  to 
hinder,  delay  or  defraud  creditors;  and  any  person  having 


MARRIAGE.  85 

knowledge  of  it  who  shall  willingly  make  use  of  it,  shall  be 
deemed  guilty  of  a  misdemeanor,  and  a  penalty  is  affixed. 
Any  one  who  shall  take,  lead,  carry,  decoy,  or  entice  away  a 
child,  to  detain  or  conceal  it  from  its  lawful  custodian  ;  or  who, 
being  seventeen  years  old  or  over,  has  carnal  knowledge  of  an 
insane  woman ;  or  whoever,  while  intoxicated,  prescribes  or 
administers  medicine  that  endangers  life ;  or  whoever  pre- 
scribes any  secret  remedy  and  refuses  to  make  known  what 
it  is,  if  required,  and  so  endangers  life;  or  whoever  admin- 
isters any  substance  to  produce  miscarriage  by  a  woman,  or 
any  woman  who  solicits  any  substance  and  takes  it,  or  submits 
to  any  operation  to  produce  a  miscarriage;  or  any  person  who 
shall  run  a  hand  car  on  a  railroad,  not  'being  an  employee, 
without  consent  of  the  company  ;  or  whoever  shall  sell  any 
diseased  meat  or  other  unwholesome  provisions  not  fit  for 
food,  etc.,  etc.,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  felonies,  and  penal- 
ties are  affixed.  Like  provisions  cover  almost  every  kind  of 
act  that  can  injure  property  or  person,  for  the  protection  of 
the  state,  corporations,  the  public  and  individuals.  Many 
offenders  are  arrested,  convicted  and  punished.  Not  all ;  and 
by  this  means  crime  has  been  held  in  check  to  some  extent ; 
many  are  deterred  by  it,  and  others  are  put  out  of  harm's  way 
for  a  greater  or  less  length  of  time. 

Now,  suppose  it  should  be  made  unlawful  for  any  person  to 
marry  without  procuring  a  license  ;  and  therr^roviding  how  it 
might  be  procured ;  unlawful  for  any  person  to  perform  the 
marriage  ceremony  without  license;  unlawful  to  issue  a  license, 
or  to  marry  any  person  within  the  prohibited  class,  the  officer 
or  person  having  knowledge  at  the  time.  Provide  by  law  who 
shall  not  marry  at  all ;  say  it  shall  be  unlawful  for  any  habitual 
drunkard,  any  person  afflicted  with  incurable  disease,  or  vene- 
real disease,  with  hereditary  scrofula,  or  who  has  been  insane,  or 
either  of  whose  immediate  ancestors  died  insane,  any  person 
afflicted  with  fits,  any  person  of  weak  mind,  incapable  of  pro- 
viding for  and  taking  care  of  themselves,  any  person  who  has 
been  twice  convicted  of  crime,  any  two  persons  who  are  both 
paupers  and  a  public  charge,  any  whose  immediate  ancestors 
wrere  paupers  and  who  have  no  visible  means  of  support  al- 
though not  a  public  charge  at  the  time,  any  person  who  is  a 


86  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

professional  beggar,  any  person  of  notorious  bad  moral  charac- 
ter, any  abandoned  person,  or  person  living  as  a  vagrant  with 
no  visible  means  of  support  though  not  a  public  charge,  shall 
marry ;  or  shall  apply  for  license  to  marry  ;  or  shall  live  with 
one  of  the  opposite  sex  as  if  married;  or  shall 'become  the 
parent  of  any  child  ;  and  affix  a  penalty.  Require  application 
for  license  to  be  by  petition,  under  oath,  declaring  that  the  ap- 
plicant does  not  belong  within  any  of  the  prohibited  classes. 
That  any  reputable  person  may  object  to  the  issue  of  license, 
by  statement  in  writing  on  oath,  that  one  or  both  of  the  parties 
belong  within  the  prohibited  class ;  on  which,  no  license  shall 
issue  until  the  question  shall  be  determined.  That  after  license, 
like  objection  may  be  made  at  the  time  of  the  ceremony;  on 
which,  the  ceremony  shall  be  suspended,  and  the  license  and  ob- 
jection be  returned  to  the  officer  issuing  it.  Provide  for  a  per- 
manent and  competent  board  of  examination  of  applicants  for 
license.  That  applicants  may  apply' for  examination  by  the 
board  at  their  option  before  applying  for  license ;  and  certifi- 
cate shall  issue  to  them  of  qualification  if  so  found  by  the 
board,  which  shall  be  presented  with  the  application  for  license, 
and  shall  be  conclusive.  When  objection  is  made  as  above 
specified,  the  officer  shall  lay  the  application  before  the  board, 
with  the  objection,  and  require  the  applicant  to  appear  for  ex- 
amination. If  on  examination  the  board  find  the  applicant 
qualified,  it  shall  return  the  papers  with  the  finding  and  it  shall 
be  conclusive.  If  they  find  the  applicant  within  the  prohibited 
class,  they  shall  order  his  commitment  to  the  custody  of  the 
sheriff,  to  be  dealt  with,  as  in  cases  of  arrest  on  coroner's  war- 
rant. Provide  a  penalty  for  each  and  every  violation  by  the 
applicant,  the  officers,  or  board,  and  for  any  neglect  of  duty  by 
the  officers  or  board,  including  perjury  for  false  swearing  by  the 
applicant,  the  objectors  or  any  witness  testifying  before  the 
board.  Make  the  board  a  body  of  inquest,  with  power  to  try 
and  determine  the  question  of  qualification.  Make  it  felony 
for  any  person  to  become  the  father  of  any  illegitimate  child. 
If  persons  of  weak  mind  become  such  parents,  separate  and 
shut  them  up  beyond  the  power  of  repetition.  Let  the  penalty 
for  all  violations  include  the  incarceration  of  the  offender  in 
some  suitable  prison  for  no  determinate  period,  and  to  be  re- 


MARRIAGE.  87 

leased  only  on  order  of  the  board  of  pardons  or  parole,  and  so 
prevent  repetitions  of  the  offence.  In  severe  cases,  of  rape,  of 
syphilitic  children,  of  assaults  on  insane  women,  or  on  girls,  let 
the  party  be  physically  put  beyond  the  power  of  repeating  the 
offence,  in  the  prison  after  incarceration,  as  a  part  of  the 
penalty. 

What  difficulty  would  there  be  in  enforcing  such  a  law  that 
is  any  greater  than  in  the  offences  I  cited,  or  in  others?  None 
— and  not  so  much  as  in  most  others.  Of  course,  all  cases 
would  not  be  reached  ;  nor  convictions  follow  in  all  cases  pros- 
ecuted. Nor  would  it  prevent  marriage  by  all  prohibited  per- 
sons, nor  wholly  prevent  illegitimacy.  But  as  in  other  offences 
it  wpuld  operate  to  deter  crime  in  this  direction  ;  it  would  bring 
conviction  for  an  average  number  of  cases  of  violation  equal  to 
those  for  other  offences.  It  would  give  every  person  desiring  to 
marry  ample  opportunity.  If  not  in  the  prohibited  class  the 
affidavit  imposes  no  humiliation  any  more  than  the  oath  ad- 
ministered to  a  witness  in  court  ;  nor  the  inquest  any  more 
than  the  challenge  to  a  voter.  The  logic  of  an  oath  to  a  wit- 
ness is  this :  "  We  do  not  know  if  you  are  entirely  truthful. 
However  you  may  be  in  fact,  you  swear  in  the  fear  of  the  law 
and  its  penalties  that  on  this  occasion,  at  this  time,  you  will  be 
entirely  truthful."  No  man  can  take  an  official  position  until 
he  takes  an  oath,  and  if  his  vote  is  challenged  he  cannot  vote 
until  he  swears,  and  in  some  cases  proves  that  he  does  not 
come  within  the  prohibitions  as  to  voters.  So  in  this  case. 
The  law  has  a  standing  challenge  as  to  applicants,  for  the  pro- 
tection of  every  person.  It  is  no  humiliation  to  pass  the  chal- 
lenge by  swearing  the  prohibitions  do  not  apply,  or  to  prove  it 
if  required  ;  nor  is  it  humiliating  to  voluntarily  go  before  the 
board  of  examiners  before  applying  for  license,  any  more  than 
it  is  to  go  before  a  board  of  registry  before  an  election  and  se- 
cure a  registry  that  will  permit  you  to  vote  when  you  apply  for 
that  privilege.  The  way  is  open  and  easy  to  procure  license  to 
marry  for  all  who  would  be  entitled  to  it.  More.  Every  de- 
cent person  should  be  glad  of  such  a  protection  against  the 
grave  dangers  and  boundless  evils  that  all  are  subject  to  with- 
out such  special  effort  for  protection. 

As  to  evidence  of  violation,  it   is    no  more  hidden  than  in 


88  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

other  cases,  and  much  less  so  than  in  most  cases,  and  in  all 
conspiracies.  Incurable  disease,  insanity,  imbecility,  inebriety, 
and  records  of  crime  cannot  be  hidden,  nor  can  a  syphilitic 
or  illegitimate  child;  pauperism  and  vagrancy  are  patent 
enough ;  and  with  the  general  condemnation  in  which  such 
offenders  are  now  held,  certainly,  there  would  be  no  public 
opinion  seeking  to  shield  them  from  prosecution,  or  to  shield 
any  one  aiding,  abetting,  or  assisting  them  in  any  way. 

Therefore,  the  last  objection  must  fall;  and  the  odium  of 
such  conditions  as  now  operate  to  fill  the  public  institutions 
and  prisons  with  an  endless  procession  of  diseased,  deformed, 
demented  and  criminal  inmates  must  rest  upon  general 
society,  including  the  church,  because  within  them  lies  all  the 
power  of  a  public  opinion  that  can  force  this  proper  and 
necessary  legislation,  and  enforce  the  execution  of  the  laws 
when  enacted. 

The  salvation  of  the  morals  of  any  nation  is  dependent 
upon  the  purity  and  health  of  its  homes  and  domestic  rela- 
tions. Few  ever  think  of  the  comprehensive  meaning  of  that 
word  "home."  To  many,  it  is  only  a  mere  domicile— a  mere 
place  to  stay.  But  the  true  home,  the  home  in  fact,  is  the 
place  where  centers  all  that  is  most  desirable  and  sacred  in  life  ; 
where  every  best  impression  is  made  ;  where  memory  turns 
to  the  fondest,  the  oftenest  and  the  last ;  the  place  whence  no 
bitter  waters  flow  and  where  centers  the  strongest,  the  purest 
and  the  most  lasting  affections.  Home,  the  true  home,  is  the 
outgrowth  of  true  love;  the  union  of  two  mind  energies  of 
which  I  have  spoken.  This  home  is  found  only  where  there  is 
a  true  marriage  made  by  this  union  ;  and  in  such  a  home  the 
divine  essence  of  the  love  of  the  parents  filters  through  the 
members  of  the  family;  and  whatever  of  misfortune  or  pov- 
erty may  overtake  it,  it  will  never  be  the  voluntary  source  of 
hereditarily  diseased  or  deformed  bodies  and  minds.  Such  a 
marriage  and  such  a  home  can  be  found  only  where  there  is 
intelligent  mental  force,  and  where  the  intellectual  and  moral 
forces  dominate  the  animal  impulses. 

With  such  regulations  as  I  have  Suggested,  the  true  mar- 
riages and  true  homes  would  increase,  with  their  ever  widening 
benefits,  and  displace  to  the  same  extent  the  mere  domiciles — 


MARRIAGE.  89 

the  places  to  stay — with  their  variant  and  unstable  domestic 
associations ;  as  often  being  mere  tolerations  as  they  are 
attractive  cohesions. 

And  in  addition,  the  mockery  of  marriage  and  the  dese- 
cration of  home  perpetrated  by  the  many,  prompted  not 
by  love  but  by  lust,  would  be  fewer,  and  the  vicious  ele- 
ments of  mentality  and  physical  deformity  now  under- 
mining the  morals  and  health  of  society,  would  gradually  be 
lessened  in  volume  and  evil  quality,  and  so  lessen  the  labor  of 
reformers,  the  burdens  of  government,  and  more  than  all, 
leave  a  chance  and  hope,  for  a  coming  generation  sooner 
or  later  of  purer  blood,  and  indicate  that  humanity  has  as 
much  interest  in  improving  itself  as  it  manifests  in  improving 
its  domestic  brutes. 


CHAPTER   VIII. 

SOCIETY. 

THE  word  society  is  variously  applied  to  the  association  of 
human  beings,  from  the  smallest  numbers  associated  to 
accomplish  a  common  purpose,  up  through  all  kinds  of  unions 
until  it  takes  in  the  general  community,  and  is  called  the  pub- 
lic. Again,  in  the  several  communities,  the  word  is  used  to 
designate  a  particular  portion,  or  set,  that  claim  the  exclusive 
right  to  the  name  as  being  the  society  in  that  particular  commu- 
nity. I  use  the  word  in  its  most  comprehensive  signification, 
as  meaning  associated  humanity,  in  the  pursuits  of  life,  in  all 
the  phases  it  presents.  In  this  sense  society  is  made  up  of  the 
aggregated  population,  living  in  communities,  as  distinguished 
from  individuals  living  apart  from  their  fellows;  and  in  speak- 
ing about  it  we  must  bear  in  mind  the  various  conditions  in, 
and  influences  exerted  by,  the  various  communities  we  find. 
To  illustrate:  In  states  having  a  local  option  law,  some  com- 
munities decide  to  have  no  retailing  of  strong  drink,  and  none 
can  be  had.  Those  who  want  and  will  have  strong  drink,  and 
believe  in  its  free  sale  and  disposition,  must  hunt  another 
community  to  live  in  where  the  public  option  favors  his  views. 
So,  the  one  community  is  subjected  to  the  outgrowths,  social, 
political  and  mental,  that  belong  with  prohibition,  while  the 
other  is  under  those  that  belong  with  regulated  license,  or  per- 
fect liberty  as  to  the  use  of  spirituous  liquors. 

Or,  take  another  case.  The  mental  characteristics  of  the 
people  and  their  environment  may  be  such  in  one  community 
as  to  produce  a  catholic  spirit  in  regard  to  association.  All 
may  mingle  together  in  common  sociability ;  attending  each 
other's  socials,  fairs,  entertainments,  and  feasts,  and  mingling 
with  sympathy  in  cases  of  misfortune  and  affliction ;  religious 
and  political  differences  furnishing  no  barriers.  In  another 
community,  they  may  be  such  as  to  divide  the  people  into 


SOCIETY.  91 

small  associations,  or  cliques,  one  having  nothing  to  do  socially 
with  any  save  the  members  of  their  own  particular  set.  An- 
other community  may  be  noted  for  the  educational,  religious 
and  moral  atmosphere  that  surrounds  it,  and  shapes  the 
impulses  and  opinions  of  its  members;  while  another  may  be 
of  that  mentality  and  environment  that  is  directly  the  oppo- 
site, abounding  in  places  for  drinking  and  gambling,  amuse- 
ments consisting  of  the  lowest  grade — racing,  cock-pits,  dog 
fighting,  prize  fighting,  etc.,  while  education  and  theology  find 
a  narrow  margin  on  which  to  operate  for  reforms  and  social 
and  moral  elevation,  and  where  observance  and  enforcement  of 
moral  and  social  laws  are  on  a  level  with  the  other  conditions. 
To  some  extent  the  best  and  the  worst  elements  are  found  in 
every  community;  and  to  a  lamentable  extent  the  forces  that 
make  the  worst,  are  found  on  the  levels  where  those  move 
who  are  possessed  of  abundant  intelligence,  and  externally 
present — as  they  socially  represent — a  high  degree  of  morality. 
The  truly  moral  who  occupy  these  levels  find  their  influence 
obstructed  by  that  of  their  associates  on  the  same  level,  who, 
while  being  able  to  maintain  their  social  position,  are  gratifying 
immoral  impulses,  or  accomplishing  personal  ends  by  immoral 
methods,  more  or  less  masked  from  general  observation,  but 
known  to  others  on  a  lower  level.  It  is  from  this  intelligent 
and  pseudo-moral  element  in  society  at  large  that  the  influ- 
ences and  forces  come  that  warp,  misshape,  and  distort  the 
views  of,  and  mislead  and  falsely  educate  the  unbalanced  men- 
talities on  the  lower  levels,  who  might  and  would,  otherwise, 
be  subject  to  and  moved  by  good  influences,  or  become  less 
immoral  and  dangerous. 

Those  on  the  lower  social  levels  look  to  those  on  the  higher 
to  learn ;  and  they  also  look  with  feelings  of  envy ;  and  they 
sneer  at  .all  they  find  there  making  pretense  of  morality  under 
the  garb  of  hypocrisy,  One  small  spot  of  dirt  when  found  is 
spread  all  over  the  entire  society,  and  the  elevating  influence 
that  might  be  felt  otherwise  is,  to  some  extent,  turned  into  an 
evil  one  by  finding  some  on  the  higher  levels  with  no  better 
morals  than  there  is  on  the  lower.  A  truthful  analysis  dis- 
closes the  lamentable  fact  that  the  criminal  and  immoral 
classes  are  not  confined  to  the  lower  social  levels.  Honesty, 


92  THE    PRISON   QUESTION. 

morality,  chastity,  virtue  and  religious  faith  are  found  among 
those  on  every  level,  and  so  are  dishonesty,  immorality,  prosti- 
tution and  infidelity.  But  those  on  the  higher  social  levels 
are  more  responsible  than  those  below  them,  and  should  be 
held  to  stricter  account,  because  of  their  higher  intelligence 
and  more  favorable  surroundings.  Were  there  fewer  or  no 
reprobates  moving  in  the  best  social  circles,  there  would  be 
fewer  among  the  worst  ones. 

An  honest  person  of  limited  opportunities  feels  a  constant 
desire  to  better  their  condition.  One  moved  by  purely  selfish 
motives  will  desire  the  same  thing,  no  matter  how  much  they 
have  already.  One  without  scruples  will  resort  to  any  method 
regardless  of  morals  to  the  utmost  boundary  his  fear  of  conse- 
quences will  permit  him  to  go.  One  pressed  by  want,  driven 
by  dire  necessity,  will  pass  all  boundaries  to  relieve  that  neces- 
sity. Offenders  against  the  criminal  law  come  from  both  of  the 
latter  classes.  The  first  may  be  an  intentional  criminal,  but 
was  made  such  by  reckless  pursuit  of  personal  gain,  meaning 
to  go  as  far  as  he  could  and  not  cross  the  criminal  line,  but 
not  hindered  by  any  moral  question  of  right.  The  other  is  an 
unintentional  criminal,  though  he  crossed  the  criminal  boun- 
dary knowingly,  driven  by  irresistible  want.  The  first  case  can 
happen  with  one  on  any  social  level.  The  latter  cannot  hap- 
pen to  any  only  those  on  the  lowest  level.  On  the  upper 
planes  are  found  those  who  are  intelligent  but  with  immoral 
tendencies,  and  on  the  lower  will  be  found  those  who  are  ignor- 
ant but  with  moral  tendencies.  The  latter  are  not  unfrequently 
made  victims  by  the  former,  and  made  to  suffer  as  criminals 
though  innocent  of  intentional  wrong,  being  overreached  and 
misled  because  of  their  ignorance,  by  a  misuse  and  abuse  of  the 
higher  intelligence  of  the  former. 

A  minority  of  the  people  are  professors  of  religion  and  a 
majority  are  non-professors.  The  former  as  a  whole  are  be- 
lievers in  a  Special  Providence  who  can  be  persuaded  by  pray- 
ers, and  they  rely  on  that,  mainly,  as  a  force  for  the  removal  or 
mitigation  of  the  evils  they  encounter  from  the  immoral  classes. 
Taking  the  religious  professors'  standard  of  morality,  the  major- 
ity of  the  people  are  not  possessed  of  strong  moral  tendencies ; 
and  taking  the  people  at  large  the  greater  number  have  neither 


SOCIETY.  93 

time,  opportunity,  inclination  or  intelligence  to  study  and  be- 
come acquainted  with  social  conditions  and  the  problems  that 
social  outgrowths  present  for  solution.  The  efforts  with  all  for 
individual  betterment,  and  of  many  for  personal  aggrandize- 
ment, absorb  the  attention  and  exhaust  their  time  and  ener- 
gies. There  are  three  classes  with  which  all  others  have  little 
patience  or  charity:  and  these  are  the  dilatory,  the  unfortunate 
and  the  rascally  classes.  In  the  aggregate  they  number  largely, 
and  whatever  adverse  circumstances  may  happen  to  any  of  the 
members  they  will  lay  the  blame  on  some  one  besides  them- 
selves. The  dilatory  class  lose  advantageous  opportunities  by 
waiting  too  long  and  by  inattention  to  any  business  they  may 
have.  The  unfortunate  classes  seem  bom  to  misfortune  and 
are  the  victims  of  untoward  circumstances  they  have  no  hand 
in  making,  intentionally.  The  rascally  class  is  by  far  the  larg- 
est in  numbers,  and  is  such  because  its  members  have  a  men- 
tality that  finds  a  gratification  in  indulging  its  peculiar  im- 
pulses, not  to  be  found  in  any  other  way. 

If  a  majority  in  society  is  moved  by  a  common  impulse,  and 
acts  on  it  as  a  unit  in  giving  utterance  to  its  conclusions,  it  is 
recognized  as  the  public  opinion.  It  is  a  force  against  which  no 
successful  resistance  can  be  made.  An  intelligent  public  opin- 
ion may  be  sometimes  moved  by  fanatical  impulses  and  is 
dangerous  and  merciless.  Or,  it  may  be  an  ignorant  public 
opinion  and  it  will  possess  the  same  character.  An  intelligent 
and  educated  public  opinion  is  likely  to  be  moved  by  moral 
impulses,  but  the  intellectual  and  educated  members  of  society 
are  in  the  minority  as  to  numbers,  and  the  members  are  often 
so  divided  by  matters  of  a  purely  personal  character  as  to  de- 
stroy the  force  it  could  exert  in  elevating  every  member  of 
society  onto  a  higher  plane,  and  so  render  invaluable  service 
for  the  entire  body  of  the  people. 

A  public  opinion  is  not  likely  to  form  and  make  itself  felt,  un- 
less the  common  moral  sense  is  shocked  in  some  way;  or  unless 
some  act  or  condition  actually  does,  or  threatens  to,  infringe 
upon  individual  rights  or  interests  generally.  Society  rarely  if 
ever  takes  cognizance  of  the  actual  conditions  that  exist  within 
and  affect  itself,  as  outgrowths  of  its  organization.  Individuals 
here  and  there  do  so,  and  bring  it  to  the  knowledge  of  the 


94  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

general  public,  and  if  there  be  a  crisis  impending  growing  out 
of  the  conditions,  a  public  opinion  will  form  and  assert  itself. 
It  is  owing  to  this  indifference  that  so  many  evil  conditions 
obtain.  In  a  conflict  between  the  moral  and  animal  elements 
in  society,  the  sympathy  of  the  dilatory  and  unfortunate  classes 
areas  likely  to  be  with  the  latter  as  the  former. 

The  reliance  of  the  religious  portion  of  society  upon  the  in- 
terposition of  Providence  in  answer  to  prayer,  and  the  absorp- 
tion of  the  time  and  attention  of  the  other  responsible  members 
of  society  in  furthering  their  own  interests,  accounts  for  the 
failure  to  recognize  and  study  the  causes  that  produce  the  evil 
classes,  and  the  formation  of  a  public  opinion  directed  to  efforts 
for  the  removal  or  modification  of  those  causes. 

As  I  have  sought  to  show  in  the  chapters  on  Mentality  and 
Natural  Forces,  the  mentality  and  environment  of  the  individ- 
ual fixes  the  social  plane  he  will  occupy  as  a  member  of  society, 
and  his  impulses  and  acts  will  be  the  result  of  natural  forces  set 
in  operation  by  that  mentality  and  environment.  If  his  plane 
is  among  the  evil  disposed,  change  of  environment  and  change 
of  mentality  must  be  effected  to  elevate  him.  I  have  sought 
to  show,  in  the  chapter  on  Theology,  that  the. superior  can 
elevate  the  inferior  only  by  going  to  his  level  and  bringing 
itself  within  the  comprehension  of  the  inferior.  The  evil  ele- 
ments in  society  can  be  removed  by  only  one  of  two  methods: 
elevation  by  change  of  mentality  and  environment,  or  by- 
physical  force.  It  is  within  the  power  of  the  higher  elements 
of  society  to  elevate  the  lower  elements  to  some  extent,  but  to 
do  this  it  must  adopt  such  methods  as  will  secure  the  attention 
of  the  lower  classes,  and  then,  by  individual  and  associated  ac- 
tion seek  to  change  mentality  by  enlightenment  and  change 
environment  by  furnishing  material  opportunities.  It  will 
make  little  headway  as  long  as  it  tolerates  customs  and  usages 
on  its  own  plane  that  are  inconsistent  with  the  elevated  senti- 
ments it  professes  and  teaches.  It  cannot  condemn  and  refuse 
association  with  the  mother  of  an  illegitimate  child  while  it 
tolerates  and  associates  with  the  father  of  it.  It  cannot  con- 
demn a  swindler  while  it  recognizes  as  a  church  communicant 
one  who,  as  a  learned  professional,  resorts  to  questionable  and 
unscrupulous  methods  to  defend  and  clear  a  guilty  criminal.  It 


SOCIETY.  95 

cannot  be  heard  to  preach  morality,  benevolence  and  charity, 
while  the  rich  church  members  refuse  to  recognize  as  equals  in 
the  sight  of  God  the  poor  but  pious  man  and  woman,  who  live 
upright  lives  and  exhibit  no  distinction  except  in  the  lack  of 
wealth.  It  cannot  gain  attention  to  exhortations  about  the 
sacredness  of  the  rights  of  property,  if  it  is  making  large 
profits  and  pinching  labor  to  the  lowest  possible  limits  as  to 
wages.  It  cannot  gain  the  confidence  of  those  it  approaches, 
if,  while  rolling  in  wealth  and  luxury,  it  passes  the  poor  and 
needy  without  recognition,  or  fails  to  reasonably  minister  to 
their  wants  out  of  its  abundant  substance.  In  a  word,  it  can 
not  preach  one  thing  and  practice  another  and  expect  to 
command  the  attention  of  those  who  indulge  in  evil  practices. 
It  must  eliminate  the  evil-disposed  elements  in  its  own  ranks 
as  far  as  possible  before  becoming  ministers  of  truth  to  those 
who  lack  moral  perception  on  lower  levels.  The  injunction  of 
the  Master,  "first  cast  out  the  beam  out  of  thine  own  eye,  then 
shalt  thou  see  clearly  to  cast  out  the  mote  out  of  thy  brother's 
eye,"  is  well  understood  and  comprehended  in  principle  by  the 
meanest  of  mankind,  though  they  may  never  have  heard  these 
words ;  and  they  are  as  ready  to  apply  it  to  anyone  subject  to  the 
challenge  as  was  the  Master  to  the  hypocrites  to  whom  he 
addressed  it. 

I  said  it  had  the  power  to  elevate  the  lower  classes ;  but  it  is 
hardly  to  be  expected  that  the  effort  will  be  made.  Individu- 
als in  it  have  labored  for  scores  of  years,  and  numbers  of  them 
in  association  have  labored  and  are  now  laboring  to  that  end  ; 
but  they  cannot  exert  the  force  of  a  public  opinion,  and  aside 
from  the  individual  results  of  their  own  efforts  they  must  rely 
on  such  municipal  aid  as  they  can  persuade  the  law-making 
powers  of  the  state  to  extend. 

The  unequal  condition  of  society  can  never  be  removed 
solely  by  legislation.  Much  less  can  it  be  removed  by  class 
legislation;  such  as  compulsory  education,  Sunday  laws,  pro- 
hibition of  the  manufacture  and  sale  of  spirits;  so-called  grants 
of  special  privileges,  such  as  are  granted  to  private  corpora- 
tions and  associations,  which  are  only  pretended  grants.  In 
reality  they  are  no  grants  at  all.  They  are  prohibitions  of  the 
exercise  and  enjoyment  of  individual  rights  by  everybody  ex- 


96  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

cept  those  specifically  named  in  the  pretended  grant.  The 
freeing  of  certain  property  from  taxation  while  other  property 
is  taxed.  If  a  few  rich  men  put  their  unneeded  thousands  into 
a  church  it  is  exempt  from  tax  ;  while  the  day  laborer  who  puts 
his  hard  earnings  into  a  little  dwelling  on  an  out-lot,  or  the 
farmer  who  raises  a  horse  or  cow,  are  taxed  to  the  utmost,  and 
yet  neither  could  get  a  seat  in  the  church.  A  millionaire  may 
bequeath  one  and  a  half  millions  to  a  university  already  rich  and 
it  becomes  exempt  from  taxation.  A  poor  man  who  has  only 
a  horse  and  dray  is  taxed  for  the  full  value.  A  thousand  in- 
equalities that  work  injustice  are  tolerated  and  upheld  by 
society,  while  it  has  the  power  in  its  hands  to  correct  them ; 
and  as  long  as  they  exist  the  influence  of  its  best  moral  ele- 
ments will  be  badly  handicapped  in  the  efforts  it  makes  to 
elevate  the  lower  classes  by  preaching  morality  and  honesty  to 
them. 

So  long  as  society  permits  marriage  to  be  regarded  as  an 
amusement  and  divorce  as  a  pastime,  the  evil-disposed  will  not 
be  impressed  with  any  idea  of  sanctity  in  marriage.  So  long 
as  courts  allow  a  man  or  woman  to  obtain  three  or  more 
divorces,  having  offspring  with  each  marriage,  which  is  sep- 
arated with  divorce,  no  one  of  the  lower  classes  is  going  to 
have  any  very  elevated  ideas  of  the  value,  the  character,  the 
sacredness  of  a  home.  So  long  as  a  criminal  can  marry  an- 
other criminal,  join  their  wits  and  perpetrate  crime  in  couples, 
they  will  not  have  any  special  respect  for  the  obligations  that 
belong  to  the  marriage  relations.  So  long  as  a  man  who  is 
barefooted  is  declared  a  felon  and  sent  to  the  state  prison  for 
stealing  a  pair  of  shoes,  while  the  well-dressed  man  and  woman 
who  conspire  to  and  do  extort  money  by  blackmail  and  are 
punished  only  as  for  a  misdemeanor,  the  criminally  inclined  are 
not  going  to  have  respect  for  the  law  or  those  who  enforce  it. 
They  know  that  the  higher  orders  in  society  tolerate  these 
irregularities,  and  that  not  a  few  among  their  ranks  commit 
crime,  indulge  in  immoral  practices,  and  some  of  the  most 
successful,  daring  and  dangerous  criminals  come  from  among 
them.  Highly  educated  and  accomplished  women,  possessing 
great  wealth,  and  qualifications  if  rightly  used  to  fill  the  high- 
est places  of  influence  and  .usefulness  as  wife,  mother  and 


SOCIETY.  97 

patroness  of  benevolent  associations,  run  after,  court,  associate 
with  and  marry  profligate  men,  both  native-born  and  foreign,, 
and  men  known  to  be  such.  And  so-called  good  society  in  the 
cities,  open  their  doors  to  these  profligates  who  come  here 
from  abroad  as  mere  adventurers,  simply  because  they  have 
titles  or  are  born  in  titled  families.  As  long  as  society  toler- 
ates and  sanctions  these  customs  and  usages  it  is  a  serious 
question  whether  it  can  be  called  good  society  or  is  above  the 
so-called  lower  classes  in  moral  mentality.  Certainly,  but  for 
the  wealth  it  commands  it  would  not  be  so  regarded.  I  must 
not  be  understood  as  arraigning  society  or  condemning  it.  I 
am  merely  referring  to  facts  as  they  exist  connected  with  it. 
And  according  to  my  philosophy  it  is  a  legitimate  outgrowth 
of  the  mentality  and  environment  of  the  individuals  that  make 
up  society,  under  the  operation  of  natural  forces.  And  it  is 
so  because  indiscriminate  marriage  and  procreation  is  allowed,. 
and  practical  knowledge  is  not  used  in  rearing  children. 

When  I  come  to  speak  of  Legislation,  of  Convicts,  of  Pun- 
ishment, and  of  Reformation,  society  with  its  conditions  en- 
ters into  the  consideration  as  an  important  factor,  as  does  each 
of  the  other  subjects  so  far  considered ;  and  like  the  individuals 
to  be  dealt  with,  we  must  take  it  and  them  just  as  they  are; 
and  whatever  propositions  are  made  or  presented  must  con- 
template an  adaptation  to  things  and  conditions  as  they  exist ; 
and  as  far  as  can  be  seen  to  such  changed  conditions  as  may 
follow  the  practical  results  of  the  propositions  when  carried 
into  practice. 

"The  fountain  can  rise  no  higher  than  its  source."  The 
moral  force  exerted  by  society  can  only  be  such  as  the  moral 
perception  and  conduct  of  its  members  possess  and  display. 
The  communities  and  smaller  associations  and  divisions  of  so- 
ciety present  the  alternating  phases  of  good  and  evil.  As  be- 
fore stated,  one  community  will  be  highly  moral  while  another 
will  be  grossly  immoral.  The  standards  of  morality  vary 
in  different  communities.  In  England  they  observe  Sunday 
as  a  day  for  religious  worship.  In  France  it  is  observed  as  a 
day  for  sporting.  In  Germany  part  of  the  day  is  devoted  to 
church  and  the  residue  to  amusement.  In  Boston  they  ob- 
serve Sunday,  and  in  Chicago  the  theatres  run  as  on  week  days. 


98  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

Education  and  civilization  are  counterparts  and  alternately 
become  cause  and  effect.  The  knowledge  obtained  through 
education,  if  properly  used,  begets  true  civilization,  and  that  in 
turn  begets  a  higher  and  true  education.  But  if  improperly 
used,  it  begets  a  false  civilization,  and  that  in  turn  may  beget 
a  higher,  but  it  will  be  a  false  education.  A  true  civilization  is 
that  which  makes  the  best  use  of  the  opportunities  that  knowl- 
edge obtained  by  education  discloses ;  while  a  true  education 
is  one  that  teaches  us  how  to  make  practical  use  of  knowledge 
and  produce  a  mentality  in  which  the  moral  impulses  domi- 
nate, control  and  direct  the  animal  impulses  through  the  higher 
intellectual  energies.  A  false  civilization  is  that  which  misuses 
the  opportunities  education  discloses  and  in  turn  begets  and 
confirms  a  false  education.  Every  advance  made  in  the  acqui- 
sition of  knowledge,  discloses  new  opportunities  for  practical 
advancement  in  some  direction  ;  and  it  always  admits  of  use 
for  individual  and  general  good,  and  also  for  individual  and 
general  injury,  directly  or  indirectly.  If  used  for  good  ends, 
the  outgrowth  of  that  use  leads  to  more  knowledge,  which  dis- 
closes more  opportunities  that  may  be  used  in  like  manner. 
If  used  for  evil  ends,  the  outgrowth  is  more  knowledge  disclos- 
ing more  opportunities,  but  the  knowledge  and  opportunities 
are  such  as  tend  to  and  grow  out  of  increasingly  greater  evils. 
The  proper  uses  bring  true  civilization  and  education,  and 
the  improper  use  brings  false  civilization  and  education, 
This  repetition  is  from  an  anxious  desire  to  impress  the 
reader,  bearing  in  mind  that  environment  and  education  make 
the  impulses  manifested  by  every  mentality.  Under  the  stim- 
ulating influences  resulting  from  civil  and  religious  liberty  in 
this  country,  education  and  civilization  have  progressed  rapidly, 
and  on  the  whole  towards  a  true  civilization,  until  since  the  peo- 
ple have  become  numerous  and  the  communities  large.  There 
was  an  instinctive  obedience  to  law  and  a  voluntary  observance 
of  order,  while  moral  perception  dominated  in  the  mentality  of 
a  majority.  Keeping  pace  with  the  increase  of  knowledge  and 
opportunities  has  come  the  population  until  they  crowd  each 
other  some  and  interests  clash.  With  the  misuse  made  of 
opportunities — especially  in  legislation,  the  acquisition  of 
wealth,  and  the  power  it  gives,  and  the  importation  of  an  un- 


SOCIETY.  Q9 

desirable  and  hetrogeneous  population  from  abroad — it  may  be 
seriously  questioned  whether  we  are  now  making  proper  use  of 
opportunities  and  whether  improper  use  is  not  now  producing 
a  false  education  and  a  false  civilization  in  turn  ;  and  conse- 
quently, an  obliquity  of  moral  perception  admitting  of  social 
conditions  that  finally  end  in  a  mentality  leading  to  indiffer- 
ence to  morals,  and  constantly  adding  to  the  numbers  that  are 
so  rapidly  increasing  the  defective  and  disorderly  classes. 

It  cannot  be  unprofitable  to  briefly  glance  at  a  few  facts  in 
this  connection,  being  evidences  of  the  legitimate  outgrowth  of 
the  use  made  of  the  increase  of  knowledge,  and  consider  if  the 
tendency  is  to  a  higher  or  lower  moral  perception.  We  will  first 
look  at  the  common  school — so  called.  It  is  not  possible  for  a 
poor  boy  or  girl  who  cannot  spare  more  than  three  months  in 
a  year  to  attend  school,  to  obtain  a  knowledge  of  reading  and 
writing  and  the  fundamental  rules  of  spelling,  arithmetic  and 
grammar,  and  so  help  them  to  study  alone  in  what  little  leis- 
ure they  can  find  between  the  demands  on  them  for  labor.  As 
a  fact,  spelling  and  grammar  and  penmanship  have  ceased  to 
be  a  part  of  a  common  school  course.  Writing  is  taught — or 
forced— but  no  effort  is  made  to  make  a  fair  writer.  They 
must  go  forward  "  with  the  class  "  from  grade  to  grade,  learn 
all  that  is  allotted  to  that  grade  and  take  the  next  in  order. 
There  is  no  regulation  by  which  a  poor  boy  can  devote  so 
much  time  as  he  can  spare  to  one  study  and  then  take  up  an- 
other. W'ith  a  rudimentary  knowledge  of  spelling,  reading, 
writing,  arithmetic  and  grammar,  he  could  acquire  enough 
knowledge  to  enable  him  to  do  ordinary  business  and  acquaint 
himself  with  the  current  news  of  the  day.  But  that  is  impos- 
sible ;  and  therefore,  he  musr  remain  ignorant  or  depend  on 
private  help.  The  "  graded  system "  has  become  so  refined 
that  the  intention  of  the  founders  of  the  common  schools, 
made  free,  with  ample  money  to  support  them,  where  every 
child  could  secure  the  rudiments  of  a  common  education, 
leaving  a  higher  order  of  culture  to  academies  and  colleges  for 
such  as  desired  to  secure  it,  is  entirely  annulled  and  defeated. 
With  ample  public  funds,  and  thousands  desirous  of  taking 
advantage  of  just  such  provisions,  there  are  no  doors  open  to 
them.  Out  of  one  thousand  children  not  ten  in  a  hundred  on 


100  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

an  average  will  become  graduates  of  the  "  high  school,"  and 
yet  it  cannot  be  passed  short  of  five  years  of  hard  labor,  and 
more  money  is  expended  to  maintain  it  than  for  all  the  rest  of 
the  pupils.  The  present  graded  system  might  all  be  well 
enough,  provided  an  arrangement  were  made  so  that  those  who 
wished  to  acquire  the  rudiments  of  only  a  few  branches  could 
do  so,  as  rapidly  as  they  could  advance  themselves.  Learn  to 
read  fairly,  to  write  some,  the  ground  rules  of  arithmetic  and 
something  about  spelling  and  grammar.  If  this  is  a  proper 
use  of  the  opportunities  opened  by  knowledge  it  is  difficult  to 
comprehend  it. 

Or  take  the  trades.  Every  door  is  closed  against  appren- 
tices. It  is  next  to  impossible  for  a  youth  to  acquire  a  trade. 
A  man  may  not  teach  his  own  son  the  trade  he  follows.  He 
must  first  obtain  the  consent  of  the  "  union  "  in  which  his 
trade  is  classed,  or  else  the  boycott  and  ostracism  will  destroy 
him.  That  is  not  easy  to  obtain  ;  the  argument  being  lest  the 
supply  of  workmen  in  the  trade  increase  beyond  the  demand 
and  so  decrease  wages. 

Or  in  another  direction.  The  division  of  labor  renders  it 
nearly  impossible  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  one  line  of  busi- 
ness. One  man  cannot  make  a  boot,  or  shoe,  or  plow,  or  hoe, 
a  suit  of  clothes,  a  wagon,  a  wheelbarrow,  a  bureau,  a  chair,  or 
bind  a  book ;  and  ^so  on  throughout  the  trades.  One  person 
works  at  one  piece,  one  at  another,  and  when  the  parts  are 
completed,  different  persons  put  different  parts  together.  So 
that  many  persons  take  part  in  completing  a  simple  thing  and 
no  one  can  work  at  another's  part  or  make  the  whole  himself. 
So  in  merchandise.  Goods  are  all  classified  and  each  class  is 
graded  and  no  one  person  handles  or  sells  only  one  class  and 
one  grade.  It  is  gloves  and  of  a  certain  grade,  laces,  fansr 
silks,  woolen  goods,  and  so  on,  through  endless  classifications, 
and  one  person  has  no  general  knowledge  of  a  common  or 
general  stock,  but  only  of  one  particular  line.  If  employment 
is  lost,  unless  they  can  find  another  opening  in  the  same  class 
or  line,  they  are  helpless  and  have  no  chance  to  labor  when 
they  are  willing  and  have  need  to.  Capitalists  establish  and 
carry  on  the  business.  Foremen  are  hired  for  every  depart- 
ment. In  a  house  with  hundreds  of  employes,  perhaps  not 


SOCIETY.  101 

twenty  have  any  general  knowledge  of  the  business  and  no 
opportunity  to  acquire  it.  Much  the  same  condition  of  affairs 
exists  among  common  manual  laborers  ;  and  any  attempt  of 
new  men  to  acquire  situations,  or  knowledge  of  any  kind  of 
work  so  as  to  labor  at  hard  work  in  any  kind  of  employment, 
is  met  with  opposition  by  those  already  in,  and  great  difficulty 
is  found  in  obtaining  a  chance  to  convert  muscular  exertion 
into  the  means  to  appease  hunger.  Let  any  one  visit  the  labor 
agencies  where  thousands  come  during  every  month  inquiring 
for  chances  to  perform  hard  manual  labor  at  almost  anything, 
and  they  can  realize  something  of  the  truths  I  am  trying  to 
impress. 

In  another  field,  legislation  in  every  law-making  department 
of  government — national,  state  and  municipal — has  made  in- 
vidious distinctions  until  almost  a  system  of  class  enactments 
have  place  in  the  public  statutes,  as  well  as  the  regulations  of 
private  corporations,  all  of  which  are  within  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  courts  for  enforcement.  A  man  may  not  take  interest  be- 
yond a  certain  sum  per  cent,  per  annum,  nor  may  any  one  con- 
tract to  pay  more,  no  matter  what  the  need  for  money  and 
when  it  cannot  be  obtained  at  that  rate.  By  being  permitted 
to  pay  what  is  demanded  a  borrower  might  save  himself  from 
bankruptcy  perhaps  in  some  cases.  And  this  restriction  is 
made  in  the  interest  of  morals  and  to  prevent  oppression  by 
lenders  in  times  of  stringency.  But,  being  unable  to  borrow 
the  money  at  the  legal  rate  of  interest,  judgment  and  execu- 
tion go  and  the  man's  property  is  seized.  Now,  the  creditor 
may  take,  and  the  borrower  may  pay  any  sum  without  limit — 
one  thousand  per  cent,  per  day — to  secure  forbearance  of  exe- 
cution or  sale.  He  may  not  give  what  he  is  willing  to  give  for 
a  loan  to  tide  over  an  emergency  and  prevent  judgment  and 
execution,  lest  the  lender  be  wicked  and  oppress  him.  But 
when  he  is  oppressed,  the  creditor  maybe  as  wicked  as  he  likes, 
and  the  borrower  may  pay  what  he  likes,  though  he  may  be 
much  more  oppressed  thereby.  Or,  in  case  three  men  enter 
into  partnership  and  become  indebted,  the  property  of  the 
firm  and  of  each  partner  can  be  seized  to  pay  the  debt.  It  would 
be  immoral  to  be  allowed  to  escape  liability  as  individuals  al- 
though credit  was  given  to  the  firm  only,  as  a  firm.  But  let 


102  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

the  same  three  men  declare  themselves  a  corporation  and  file 
the  declaration  in  a  public  office  designated,  and  then  become 
indebted,  creditors  can  look  only  to  the  corporate  property  for 
the  debts.  Each  individual  may  be  worth  a  million  and  not  a 
cent  can  be  reached.  The  morality  in  these  distinctions  is 
hard  to  find  ;  the  injustice  is  patent. 

Again,  government  will  sell  a  tract  of  land  and  issue  to  the 
buyer  a  patent,  and  covenant  to  warrant  and  forever  defend 
him  in  the  title  and  possession  against  all  claimants.  The 
buyer  improves  that  land,  builds  a  dwelling  and  other  con- 
veniences, spends  years  and  rears  a  family  there,  builds  up 
associations  and  memories  dearer  than  life,  expects  to  die  and 
be  buried  there  and  leave  it  as  an  inheritance  for  his  children. 
Some  few  other  persons  declare  themselves  a  corporation  to 
build  a  railroad  and  they  run  the  line  to  sait  themselves,  and  it 
goes  through  this  person's  dwelling  and  land.  They  desire  a 
part  of  the  land  to  take  gravel  from  and  another  part  to  waste 
dirt  on.  The  owner  refuses  to  sell  and  destroy  his  home  and 
the  associations  and  memories  of  a  lifetime,  and  go  away 
to  build  up  a  new  one  in  his  advanced  age.  That  government, 
in  violation  of  its  warranty,  tranfers  the  right  of  eminent 
domain  to  those  few  men  who  are  seeking  their  own  personal 
gain,  and  under  a  law  made  for  that  purpose  by  that  same 
government,  its  warranty  is  annulled,  the  land  and  home  is 
condemned,  not  for  public  but  for  private  use,  and  those 
persons  take  it  by  force  from  the  owner,  and  drive  him  out  to 
begin  anew.  And  nothing  is  considered  except  the  market 
price  of  the  property  compared  with  other  land  that  is  offered 
for  sale  in  the  locality.  A  grosser  case  of  tyranny,  injustice, 
bad  faith  and  oppression  can  hardly  be  conceived,  and  no  other 
country  than  this  practices  it. 

Nearly  all  laws  for  indirect  taxation  operate  unequally  and 
unjustly,  and  the  statutes  contain  very  many  enactments  of 
class  character  creating  unjust  and  oppressive  distinctions.  It 
would  seem  to  be  quite  evident  that  this  is  not  such  a  use  of 
the  opportunities  created  by  knowledge  as  tends  to  a  true 
civilization,  and  in  its  turn  bringing  a  higher  knowledge  as  true 
education,  that  will  open  still  greater  opportunities.  But 
rather,  it  is  such  a  use  as  begets  a  sense  of  injustice,  an  abuse 


SOCIETY.  103 

of  power,  and  the  operation  of  natural  forces  resulting,  tend 
toward  a  lower  plane,  a  lower  moral  perception,  the  evolving 
of  feelings  of  contempt  for  law  and  disbelief  in  justice.  In  a 
word,  it  begets  a  false  civilization,  in  turn  begetting  a  false 
education. 

One  more  illustration  will  be  sufficient.  Political  parties  are 
the  result  of  variance  in  opinion  on  questions  of  policy  in 
government.  But  such  use  has  been  made  of  this  knowledge 
as  to  create  partisan  clans  in  the  place  of  political  parties,  and 
they  are  miscalled  political  parties.  The  personal  partisan 
spirit  took  the  place  of  the  patriotic  spirit,  and  the  citizen, 
whose  duty  it  was  to  consider  proposed  policies  as  to  their 
benefit  and  utility  in  government,  both  projected  and  consid- 
ered policies  not  in  that  light,  but  as  a  matter  of  partisan 
expediency  to  attract  voters  and  secure  possession  of  the  gov- 
ernment offices.  This  use  of  opportunities  led  to  the  enfran- 
chisement of  newly  landed  foreigners,  and  the  extension  of  the 
elective  franchise  to  persons  not  citizens,  and  to  others,  until 
many  ignorant  and  degraded  elements  of  society  actually  held 
the  balance  of  power  at  the  ballot  box.  That  led  to  the 
practice  of  bribing  and  tampering  with  deposited  ballots  and 
election  count  and  returns,  and  at  this  time  there  are  in  every 
state  plenty  of  voters,  with  their  ballots  in  the  market  as  a 
commodity,  for  sale  to  the  highest  partisan  bidder,  to  the 
number  of  from  5,000  to  50,000  in  some  localities.  Of  course 
the  honestly  expressed  will  of  the  majority  of  the  voters  is 
never  the  result  of  elections,  and  the  benefits  expected  from  a 
government  by  the  people  are  not  attainable.  This  use  of 
opportunities  has,  through  the  operation  of  natural  forces,  de- 
veloped a  moral  perception  that  guides  the  administrators  of 
government  in  a  like  direction ;  and  in  the  formation  of  legis- 
lative committees,  the  making  and  enforcement  of  rules  in 
legislation,  the  appointments  to  subordinate  offices,  and  the 
general  conduct  of  public  affairs,  the  use  of  opportunities 
afforded  by  knowledge  are  directed  to  the  perpetual  retention 
of  power  in  the  hands  of  the  partisans  holding  it,  and  the  ex- 
clusion of  opponents,  regardless  of  the  will  of  a  majority  of  the 
honest  voters  of  the  nation. 

This   demoralizing    influence    filters    down  from    the    high 


104  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

official  places  and  taints  the  entire  body  of  society;  and  the 
methods  are  introduced  into  petty  local  selections  in  associa- 
tions non-political.  In  the  glaring  instance  just  noticed  no 
•one  can  be  blind  to  the  fact  that,  the  knowledge  given  by  edu- 
cation is  prostituted  to  base  uses ;  and  in  turn,  creates  oppor- 
tunities which,  being  availed  of  in  like  spirit,  begets  knowledge 
that  tends  to  further  base  uses,  and  so  a  true  education  and  a 
true  civilization  may  be  rendered  impossible,  and  when  true 
they  will  be  perverted  and  made  false. 

As  yet,  the  judiciary  have  mainly  escaped  the  baneful  in- 
fluence of  partisan  strife,  although  in  some  instances  the  poi- 
son has  manifested  itself  and  is  being  spread  by  partisan  nomi- 
nation and  election  of  partisan  judicial  officers;  but  there  has 
been  such  uses  made  of  opportunities  in  connection  with  the 
administration  of  justice,  that  faith  in  the  wisdom,  justice  and 
equity  of  the  courts  is  materially  weakened,  and  respect  for 
the  law  and  its  methods  has  sensibly  diminished.  These  con- 
ditions in  society  are  patent  to  the  commonest  mind ;  and  the 
abuse  of  knowledge,  and  the  misuse  of  opportunities  know- 
ledge creates,  by  many  of  those  on  the  higher  social  planes  is 
construed  by  many  of  those  on  the  lower  moral  planes  as  ex- 
ample and  license ;  and  so,  under  the  operation  of  natural 
forces  the  great  law  of  equilibration  brings  upon  society  the 
burdens  of  crime,  perverted  mentality  and  increasing  pau- 
perism, and  charges  the  higher  orders  with  responsibility  for  it. 
It  is  in  the  face  of  these  facts,  which  should  be  known  to  all  of 
ordinary  intelligence,  that  philanthropists  and  reformers  ap- 
proach those  needing  reform  and  attempt  to  understand  and 
solve  "the  prison  question." 

The  social  conditions  in  the  former  slave  states  demand  some 
consideration. 

Two  distinct  races  of  different  physiological  organism — 
physical  and  mental — of  entirely  different  mentality  and  men- 
talism,  are  living  together.  The  white  race  is  the  progressive 
race,  the  authors  and  creators  of  all  the  education  and  civiliza- 
tion that  exists.  The  black  race  is  a  non-progressive  and 
purely  imitative  race.  Every  practical  idea  possessed  by  every 
member  of  that  race  above  the  level  of  the  barbarian,  is  one 
originated  by  the  white  man.  The  language,  the  productive 


SOCIETY.  105 

means  for  living,  the  customs  and  social  regulations,  the  forms 
of  government,  the  rights  to  and  means  of  protection  as  to 
persons  and  property,  and  every  element  that  enters  into 
civilization  are  emanations  from  the  ingenuity  and  intelligence 
of  the  white  race.  So  long  as  the  colored  race  are  connected 
with  and  not  separated  from  the  white  man  it  can  follow  him  ; 
it  is  not  only  incapable  of  leading,  but,  if  left  to  itself,  removed 
from  that  connection  and  association,  it  begins  to  retrograde, 
and  in  one  century  will  lose  all  it  has  learned  and  finally  re- 
lapse into  its  normal  condition  of  barbarism.  The  brain  struct- 
ure of  the  colored  man  with  its  source  of  supply  is  of  such  a 
character  that  he  cannot  retain  progressive  intelligence  and 
energy  when  left  to  himself.  Even  when  with  the  white  man 
in  large  bodies,  the  education  he  acquires  is  more  largely  used 
in  gratifying  purely  personal  impulses  than  in  efforts  to  elevate 
and  advance  in  a  general  line  of  progress.  His  nature  is  es- 
sentially animal  and  emotional,  and  not  intellectual.  His 
moral  ideas  are  wholly  emotional  and  his  religion  a  tangible 
thing  that  he  can  feel  somewhere,  as  he  would  a  lump  in  his 
throat  or  an  overloaded  stomach.  Philosophy  and  reason 
play  no  part  in  either — they  are  born  of  emotional  impulse. 

An  admixture  of  white  man's  blood  tends  to  give  him  higher 
moral  perceptions.  Scholastic  education  elevates  him  in  men- 
tal power,  and  in  close  juxtaposition  with  the  white  man,  with 
his  example  to  follow  and  his  means  to  use,  he  reaches  the 
highest  level  he  is  capable  of  attaining;  but  left  to  himself  he 
is  incapable  to  retain  his  advanced  place,  and  his  successive 
generations  deteriorate  and  drift  back  to  his  normal  non-pro- 
gressive level.  The  isolated  cases  of  marked  elevation  in  in- 
telligence that  occur,  argue  nothing  and  prove  nothing  against 
this  view,  and  the  conclusion  defies  successful  contradiction. 
Noted  men  have  arisen  among  them,  noted  educational  institu- 
tions are  maintained  by  them,  but  they  are  founded  on,  con- 
ducted by,  and  entirely  dependent  on  resources  furnished  by  the 
white  man,  and  are  located  in  the  midst  of  white  men  and 
their  institutions.  They  have  never  been  tried  in  any  case 
where  dependent  on  their  own  intellectual  resources.  Tous- 
saint  L'Overture,  one  of  the  highest  types  of  French  half- 
blood,  did  something  for  his  race,  but  the  results  of  his  efforts 


106  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

are  lost  in  the  inevitable  retrogression  to  semi-barbarism,  and 
it  is  still  going  lower.  Dumas  and  Fred  Douglass,  the  two 
highest  types  next,  perhaps,  did  nothing  for  their  race.  They 
received  a  white  man's  education,  in  a  white  man's  school, 
lived  among  white  men,  married  white  wives,  and  did  nothing 
other  than  to  advance  as  individuals  in  imitation  simply  of 
white  men,  as  followers  and  not  leaders, 

In  the  northern  states  the  scattered  negro  population  give 
us  individuals  that  reach  a  respectable  level  in  use  of  a  white 
man's  opportunities  and  surroundings;  while  as  a  rule,  the 
larger  number  use  their  opportunities  to  gratify  the  animal 
and  emotional  impulses,  rather  than  the  intellectual  impulses 
for  the  elevation  of  the  man.  Remove  the  restraints  of  a  white 
man's  government  and  the  race  would  divide  into  clans  and 
tribes,  and  descend  to  the  level  that  belongs  to  the  contentions 
and  tyranny  of  tribal  conflict.  It  argues  nothing  to  say  they 
have  had  no  chance.  They  have  had  the  same  chances  the 
white  race  has  had  and  for  the  same  length  of  time.  Nor  does 
it  argue  anything  to  say  there  are  ignorant,  degraded  and  non- 
progressive  persons  among  white  men.  As  a  race  the  whites 
are  progressive  ;  as  a  race  the  blacks  are  non-progressive.  'The 
former  create  opportunities  for  advancement.  The  latter  do 
not  ;  and  when  given  possession  of  the  white  man's  and  left  to 
himself,  loses  them. 

For  two  centuries  the  black  occupied  the  position  of  forced 
personal  subordination,  and  the  mental  perceptions  of  the 
southern  white  man  of  the  true  relations  that  exists  between 
the  races  was  the  outgrowth  of  that  environment,  and  of  the 
education  it  brought.  For  a  quarter  of  a  century  the  black 
has  been  released  from  that  position,  and  by  the  fiction  of 
legal  enactment  occupies  a  political  and  social  level  with  the 
white  ;  but  in  reality,  he  was  placed,  and  is  under  a  worse 
domination  and  subordination,  because  his  position  makes  a 
white  or  black  civilization  imperative,  and  the  whites  will 
never  permit  the  latter.  Led  by  his  own  impulses,  unguided  by 
reason  because  of  his  ignorance  of  conditions  and  their  causes, 
incapable  of  comprehending  the  natural  and  social  relations,  he 
is  forced  into  a  continual  antagonism,  the  outcome  of  which 
must  end  in  his  deportation  or  annihilation,  sooner  or  later. 


SOCIETY.  107 

Miscegenation  exists  to  some  extent,  but  it  leads  directly  to 
hybridism.  The  white  man  is  willing  to  extend  to  the  black 
all  of  his  own  opportunities,  but  he  will  not  fraternize  with 
him.  There  are  no  harmonious  elements  or  outgrowths  to 
bring  them  together,  and  there  are  ineradical  elements  and 
outgrowths  to  keep  them  apart  as  two  distinct  races,  and  in- 
harmonious elements  cannot  dwell  together  as  equals.  The 
white  man  is  willing  to  create  property,  pay  taxes,  maintain 
schools  and  government,  and  give  the  negro  the  advantages  of 
education;  to  protect  his  person  so  long  as  he  observes  the 
public  order,  and  allow  him  to  do  business  and  acquire  for 
himself.  But  with  all  this  he  knows  that,  as  a  race,  the  black 
cannot  use  them.  With  individual  exceptions,  their  moral 
perceptions  are  obtuse,  and  honesty  and  chastity  are  "  more 
honored  in  the  breach  than  in  the  observance."  In  these  res- 
pects they  are  not  different  from  many  in  the  white  race ;  but 
they  lack  progressive  energy  and  perception,  and  the  animal 
impulses  govern  them  to  such  an  extent  that  the  tendency  is 
toward  a  lower  plane.  This  is  evidenced  by  the  fact  already 
cited,  that  in  the  prison  population  the  blacks  exceed  the 
whites  in  proportion  of  five  or  six  to  one  and  the  increase 
comes  largely  from  the  blacks  that  have  had  the  benefit  of 
more  or  less  education.  Other  instances  can  be  cited. 

In  the  northern  states  there  are  political  demagogues  who, 
for  partisan  ends,  regardless  of  anything  else,  are  determined 
to  maintain  the  negro  on  a  political  and  social  level  with  the 
southern  whites,  in  order  to  make  sure  of  his  vote  to  keep 
their  party  in  power.  This,  leads  to  impractical  and  oppres- 
sive legislation  inimical  to  the  whites,  and  breeds  more  an- 
tagonism, and  a  resort  to  questionable  methods  to  evade 
the  operation  of  the  unwise  enactments.  Another  class  of 
northern  people,  properly  termed  sentimentalists,  desire  to  re- 
gard the  negro  as  a  "  brother,"  and  persist  in  efforts  to  teach 
him  he  is  such,  for  "  God  made  of  one  blood  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth ;"  and,  like  the  negro,  with  no  real  knowledge  of  the 
actual  social  conditions  in  the  south,  and  as  little  consideration 
of  the  natural  forces  relating  to  mentality  and  its  outgrowths, 
and  those  growing  out  of  the  forced  mingling  of  inharmonious 
elements,  they  stimulate  and  make  active  only  the  impulses. 


108  THE   PRISON    QUESTION. 

that  lead  to  antagonism  instead  of  harmony.  Between  the 
two,  the  negro  is  "  between  the  devil  and  the  deep  sea;"  the 
devil  of  his  own  ignorance  and  non-progressive  nature,  and  the 
deep  sea  of  the  superiority  of  the  white  race  he  is  surrounded 
by,  which  is  able  to  prevent  his  becoming  the  superior,  will  not 
recognize  him  as  an  equal,  simply  because  he  is  not,  and  the 
relation  of  equals  cannot  be  either  established  or  maintained. 

There  are  many  intelligent,  good,  moral  and  excellent  per- 
sons among  the  blacks ;  but  I  speak  of  them  as  a  race,  and 
that  cannot  be  said  of  them  as  a  race.  Like  Sodom,  there  are 
not  enough  righteous  among  them  to  save  them  from  the  fate 
that  awaits  them  beyond  any  power  to  prevent.  In  conse- 
quence of  these  facts,  the  prison  question  presents  some 
features  that  do  not  belong  to  it  in  the  northern  states ;  and 
the  same  method  of  conducting  prisons  and  efforts  for  reform 
of  convicts  will  not  apply  there  in  all  respects,  that  would  be 
possible  at  the  north.  A  different  classification  and  different 
kind  of  treatment  and  teaching  is  necessary,  and  the  true  con- 
sideration is  possible  only  to  southern  white  people  who  have 
actual  daily  knowledge  of  and  experience  with  local  social  con- 
ditions. These  conditions  are  anomalous  and  cannot  be  met 
in  the  prison  question  in  the  south  as  we  would  deal  with  con- 
ditions in  the  north.  They  require  a  more  careful  study  of  the 
operation  of  natural  forces  applicable  to  the  inequality  of  the 
races  and  the  peculiar  environment ;  a  modification  of  the  stand- 
ards of  right  and  wrong ;  a  more  liberal  view  as  to  the  standard 
of  morals  ;  and  a  greater  use  of  physical  force.  These  views 
may  not  be  palatable  or  popular  aod  will  be  rejected  by  many  ; 
but  they  are  true,  and  we  must  recognize  them  as  being  so  and 
deal  with  conditions  accordingly,  or  they  will  deal  with  us  to 
our  injury. 

The  inequality  in  the  distribution  of  the  fruits  of  labor,  and 
the  results  from  the  relations  of  capital  and  labor  as  capital  is 
managed,  bring  such  conditions  as  tend  to  and  produce 
criminals  and  crime,  and  it  might  be  expected  that  the  subject 
would  be  noticed  in  connection  with  other  social  conditions. 
The  subjects  of  Labor,  Capital  and  Property  with  their  so- 
called  " rights"  and  relations  to  the  individual  and  the  com- 
munity, are  material  factors  in  a  full  consideration  of  the  sub- 


SOCIETY.  109 

ject  of  crime  and  its  causes,  and  to  many  it  may  seem  of 
importance  in  discussing  the  prison  question ;  but  it  has  not 
seemed  so  to  me.  The  prison  question  properly  deals  with 
the  disposition  of  criminals  as  well  as  removing  the  causes  of 
their  production ;  and  as  class  legislation  of  every  character 
produces  the  conflict  that  exists  between  capital  and  labor,  from 
which  grow  the  conditions  that  tend  to  make  crime  and 
criminals  as  one  cause,  the  condemnation  of  such  legislation  is 
sufficient  in  discussing  the  prison  question.  To  enter  the  field 
and  undertake  to  discuss  the  economic  questions  relating  to 
labor,  capital  and  property,  is  a  distinct  and  voluminous  work 
by  itself.  It  is  claimed  that  every  man  should  be  "  permitted 
to  live  out  his  own  life,"  and  that  this  is  the  very  essence  of 
liberty ;  subject,  however,  to  necessary  restrictions  to  preserve 
order;  and  to  do  this  the  right  to  property  is  a  natural  right 
under  the  moral  law.  But  that  the  property  should  be  used 
for  the  good  of  all  and  not  of  one  alone.  When  the  owner  has 
realized  all  that  he  needs  out  of  it,  he  should  use  the  rest  for 
the  common  good.  This  is  correct  enough  in  morals,  but  not 
practical  in  fact,  because  man  will  regard  morals  as  he  does 
everything  else — so  far  as  he  can  make  it  useful  to  himself  and 
his  accumulations.  The  only  practical  legal  remedy  for  equal- 
izing pecuniary  conditions,  lies  in  the  direction  of  so  providing 
that  all  have  equal  opportunities,  and  that  taxation  bears 
equally  on  accumulations.  If  government  grants  a  franchise, 
such  as  for  a  railroad,  canal,  street  cars,  lighting,  water  supply, 
gravel,  toll  or  other  kind  of  road,  or  of  any  kind,  it  should 
reserve  control,  fix  the  limit  of  charges,  reserve  a  portion  of 
the  revenue,  prohibit  accumulations  beyond  a  proper  limit, 
allow  the  operators  a  fair  income,  a  reasonable  surplus  for  con- 
tingencies, and  take  the  overplus ;  and  reduce  the  charges  for 
service  when  the  income  increases  beyond  a  fair  and  reason- 
able limit.  No  monopolies  should  be  allowed,  except  such  as 
are  conducted  and  controlled  by  government  for  purposes  of 
revenue  to  itself;  and  the  accumulations  to  ownership  in  land 
should  be  limited  so  as  to  prevent  private  monopoly  in  it.  No 
special  privileges  should  be  conferred  that  benefit  some  and 
burden  others.  In  "  living  one's  own  life  "  the  acquisition  of 
property  is  a  matter  not  readily  controllable.  One  who  cannot 


1 10  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

judiciously  use  the  opportunities  his  position  gives,  cannot 
acquire  property,  or  keep  it  if  given  to  him.  Others  are  so 
constituted  that  they  will  not  do  so  when  they  can.  Others 
who  have  opportunities  and  commence  to  accumulate  are  not 
able  to  control  conditions,  and  are  forced  to  arrange  for  con- 
stantly increasing  accumulations.  Men  in  business  with  liberal 
incomes,  make  investments,  and  competition,  new  inventions, 
fluctuations  of  markets,  new  discoveries  of  material,  and  other 
things,  compel  great  enlargements,  and  of  necessity  the  busi- 
ness and  accumulations  continue  to  grow.  It  would  be 
bankruptcy  to  stop  and  contraction  without  disaster  is  impos- 
sible. Or,  on  the  other  hand,  want  of  sufficient  capital  prevents 
extension  and  a  suspension  becomes  inevitable.  Or  again,  one 
having  enough  retires  from  business  on  permanent  investments. 
Change  in  securities  may  bring  a  largely  increased  income  and 
require  still  other  investments,  and  without  any  intention  of 
enlargement  of  income  he  may  become  the  center  of  a  sort  of 
pecuniary  maelstrom  where  wealth  flows  in  upon  him.  On  the 
other  hand,  depreciation  in  securities  from  various  causes  may 
leave  him  without  income.  These  things  are  dependent  on 
the  rights  of  persons  and  things  as  the  law  and  social  usages 
now  recognize  them.  The  whole  matter  of  property  rests  in 
three  things  as  I  have  sought  to  show:  the  peculiar  mental 
perception  of  the  individual  that  enables  him  to  so  use  oppor- 
tunities as  to  acquire,  keep  and  judiciously  use  money,  property 
and  labor.  With  humanity  as  it  is,  no  amount  of  preaching  or 
teaching  will  effect  much  change  in  its  moral  ideas  about 
property.  The  man  who  can  accumulate  and  keep  while 
"  living  his  own  life,"  is  not  going  to  throw  anything  away  or 
give  away  what  he  is  not  compelled  to,  to  enable  some  other 
man  to  "  live  his  own  life."  Men  who  have,  will  expend  or 
give  where  their  impulses  may  dictate,  and  not  because  of  any 
view  to  equalize  conditions.  While  a  large  amount  of  crime 
could  be  prevented  by  a  proper  and  equitable  limitation  of  in- 
dividual accumulations — now  permitted  by  means  of  special 
privileges  conferred  through  class  legislation — on  one  hand,  and 
the  offering  of  large  opportunities  to  many  now  deprived  of 
them  by  the  abrogation  of  that  kind  of  legislation,  on  the  other 
hand,  such  a  consummation  can  be  reached  only  through  the 


SOCIETY.  I  1 1 

force  of  a  healthy  and  moral  public  opinion.  Until  that  grows 
and  asserts  itself,  the  factors  to  be  considered  in  the  prison 
question  must  be  considered,  dealt  with,  and  used,  without 
including  the  "labor  problem."  In  other  words,  we  must 
endeavor  to  take  conditions  as  they  are,  and  ameliorate,  im- 
prove and  reform  where  possible,  and  not  attempt  to  change 
conditions  that  can  only  be  changed  by  like  processes  to  those 
that  produced  them.  They  are  things  of  growth  from  seed 
sown  by  contingencies,  not  controllable  until  they  fully  develop 
their  character  and  origin,  and  can  be  changed  only  by  gradual 
progress  as  the  successive  generations  follow  each  other. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

GOVERNMENT   AND   THE   CRIMINAL. 

THE  duties  of  government  are,  to  preserve  public  order, 
protect  each  person — natural  and  artificial — in  their 
rights  of  personal  franchise  and  property,  administer  justice, 
and  leave  each  person  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  fruits  of  his 
own  skill  and  labor,  and  in  the  enjoyment  of  the  largest  per- 
sonal liberty  consistent  with  the  rights  of  others  and  of  the 
general  public  welfare ;  taking  of  the  substance  of  each,  under 
equal  and  just  laws,  so  much  as  in  the  aggregate  will  pay  the 
expenses  of  government,  honestly  and  economically  adminis- 
tered, and  no  more.  The  government  in  this  country  is  exclu- 
sively one  of  law.  The  objects,  ends  and  aims  to  be  attained 
by  laws  for  government,  are  expressed  by  the  preambles  to  the 
constitution  of  the  United  States  and  of  the  several  states. 
While  they  slightly  vary  in  words,  they  use  language  convey- 
ing substantially  the  same  idea  in  all.  That  to  the  federal 
constitution  declares  it  to  be,  "to  establish  justice,  insure 
domestic  tranquillity,  provide  for  the  common  defence,  promote 
the  general  welfare,  and  secure  the  blessings  of  liberty  to  our- 
selves and  our  posterity."  That  of  one  of  the  states  says, 
"to  the  end  that  justice  be  established,  public  order  main- 
tained and  liberty  perpetuated."  To  enact  such  laws  as  will 
secure  these  ends,  or  tend  to  secure  them,  and  to  honestly  and 
fairly  enforce  them,  is  the  duty  of  the  representatives  of  the 
people  in  the  various  constitutional  departments  provided  for 
the  purpose  of  administering  government. 

Governments  are  like  individuals,  and  are  subject  to  like  in- 
fluences and  the  operation  of  natural  forces.  The  mentality 
of  government  can  never  be  better  or  greater  than  is  that  of 
the  persons  chosen  to  organize  and  administer  it ;  nor  can  its 
Taws  be  any  more  just  and  wise  in  formation  and  effect,  than  is 
the  perception  of  wisdom  and  justice  in  the  minds  of  the  legis- 


GOVERNMENT  AND   THE   CRIMINAL.  113 

lators;  nor  can  they  be  executed  with  any  more  fairness  and 
justice  than  will  be  dictated  by  the  moral  sense  of  justice  within 
the  minds  of  those  entrusted  with  that  duty,  from  the  governor 
and  highest  judicial  functionary  down  through  every  official  to 
the  lowest  grade  of  administrative  officers. 

The  delegated  and  implied  power  of  government  has  the 
force  of  unanimous  public  opinion,  provided  with  means  to 
enforce  compliance  with  its  dictates  or  demands,  as  between  it 
and  the  people  subject  to  it ;  being  regarded  as  the  will  of  the 
majority  of  the  people  expressed  according  to  the  forms  pre- 
scribed by  law,  yet,  the  intelligence  and  ethical  force  contained 
in  municipal  law  will  correspond  with  the  intelligence  and 
moral  perceptions  of  the  general  body  of  the  people  whose 
representatives  enact  it.  But  when  it  comes  to  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  law  upon  individuals,  the  manner  and  efficiency  of 
the  execution,  and  the  effects  as  a  means  for  governing  the 
people,  will  depend  upon  the  intelligence  and  moral  percep- 
tions of  the  body  of  the  immediate  community  in  which  the 
enforcement  is  attempted. 

The  efficiency  of  law  as  a  means  for  effecting  the  duties  and 
objects  of  government,  depends  upon  the  justice  it  effects  when 
enforced,  and  upon  the  promptness  and  certainty  with  which  it 
is  enforced.  Unless  the  public  opinion  is  satisfied  with  the 
justice  of  the  lawr  it  will  not  sustain  it;  and  unless  it  be 
promptly  and  certainly  enforced  it  will  be  regarded  with  indif- 
ference even  if  just.  Especially  will  this  be  so  with  the 
criminal,  and  with  the  public  as  to  criminals.  The  law  speci- 
fically defines  the  acts  that  shall  be  considered  as  crimes  and 
in  disturbance  of  public  order  and  fixes  penalties ;  and  it  pre- 
scribes a  code  of  procedure  for  executing  the  law  and  inflicting 
penalties.  When  one  commits  an  offense  against  this  law  the 
relation  between  him  and  government  becomes  twofold  ;  par- 
taking of  the  nature  of  master  and  servant,  and  also  of  guardian 
and  ward.  Government  takes  the  custody  of  his  person  and 
has  the  right  to  command  him  and  enforce  obedience.  At  the 
same  time  it  must  give  and  secure  to  him  his  rights  under  the 
law  and  protect  him  in  the  exercise  of  them,  and  furnish  the 
means  to  enforce  them  for  his  own  benefit.  In  bailable  cases 
he  may  give  bail  and  go  at  large  until  convicted  and  sentenced. 


114  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

He  may  waive  bail  and  have  his  writ  of  right  to  inquire  into 
the  cause  of  his  detention.  He  may  demand  that  a  copy  of 
the  accusations  against  him  be  given  him,  and  that  they  shall  be 
so  certainly  stated  that  a  charge  of  the  same  acts  cannot  be 
repeated  in  any  form  in  another  accusation  after  trial  on  them. 
He  may  require  the  names  of  the  witnesses  against  him  and  that 
they  testify  in  his  presence  in  court.  That  he  may  be  tried  by 
a  jury  of  citizens,  with  a  reasonable  chance  to  object  to  those 
he  may  not  want  to  sit ;  to  have  the  benefit  of  counsel ;  and 
compulsory  proceess  to  bring  his  own  witnesses  into  court. 
These,  with  other  rights,  government  must  enforce  in  his  favor, 
and  require  its  prosecutor  who  appears  on  behalf  of  the  people, 
to  recognize  him  as  one  of  the  people  entitled  to  protection  as 
well  as  every  other  person  in  the  state ;  and  see  to  it  that  a 
fair  and  unprejudiced  presentation  of  the  facts  is  made,  and  a 
fair  hearing  given  ;  and  that  he  is  to  stand  as  innocent  of  the 
offence  charged  until  his  guilt  be  established  by  evidence.  In 
all  this  the  government  is  his  guardian,  while  holding  him  in 
custody  as  his  master.  When  convicted,  sentenced,  and  inflic- 
tion of  the  penalty  begins,  and  thence  on  until  ended,  govern- 
ment is  still  guardian,  and  must  see  to  it  that  its  officials  are 
not  actuated  by  any  vindictive  spirit,  or  inflict  the  penalty  with 
any  views  of  vindictive  justice  ;  but  that  it  be  done  with  a 
purpose  to  reform  the  criminal  and  induce  him  to  thereafter 
obey  the  law  and  observe  the  public  order.  While  as  his 
master  it  holds  him,  commands  his  services,  and  enforces 
obedience,  as  his  guardian  it  must  also  protect  him,  provide  for 
his  necessities  and  health,  and  seek  to  aid  him  to  secure  his 
own  future  welfare  as  a  law-abiding  citizen.  The  fundamental 
law  contemplates  that  the  code  "  shall  be  founded  on  prin- 
ciples of  reformation  and  not  vindictive  justice." 

The  action  of  government  relating  to  offenders  has  been  a 
matter  of  growth,  with  constant  modifications  in  favor  of  the 
offender;  but  at  no  time  has  the  law-making  power  seemed  to 
have  actually  grasped  this  true  idea  of  the  relations  between 
the  criminal  and  government,  and  practically  legislated  with 
those  relations  in  view  to  carry  into  practical  effect  the  ex- 
pressed intendment  and  command  of  the  constitution.  "The 
principle  of  reformation"  is  to  be  the  foundation  of  all  enact- 


GOVERNMENT   AND   THE   CRIMINAL.  115 

merits  under  which  government  may  deal  with  the  criminal. 
A  "principle"  is  a  rule  of  action  growing  out  of  an  existing 
condition  of  facts.  When  the  condition  ceases  the  principle  no 
longer  exists.  "  The  principle  of  reformation  "  growing  out  of 
the  condition  of  facts  that  exist  when  one  becomes  a  criminal 
and  government  takes  him  into  custody  to  restrain  him  and 
make  him  feel  the  power  of  government  to  inflict  a  penalty, 
and  to  perpetually  isolate  him  from  society  if  it  wills  to  do  so, 
demands  such  legal  provisions  by  government  as  will  secure  the 
safe  custody  of  the  offender  beyond  the  possibility  of  escape, 
such  management  as  will  impress  upon  him  the  value  and 
benefit  of  good  and  regular  habits  and  useful  labor,  while  it 
endeavors  to  cultivate  such  a  mentality  as  will  give  him  moral 
perception,  and  a  mental  balance  that  will  enable  him  to  be 
guided  by  it ;  and  to  retain  him  in  custody  until  such  balance 
is  obtained.  If  it  be  found  impossible  to  give  him  a  balance, 
then  to  hold  him  in  custody  as  an  element  unfit  to  be  at  large. 
The  "principle  of  reformation''  extends  beyond  him,  and  if  he 
cannot  be  reformed  himself  he  should  not  be  allowed  to  con- 
taminate others.  Under  this  principle  the  operation  of  natural 
forces  at  once  creates  the  relations  of  master  and  apprentice 
between  government  and  the  criminal,  for  government  is  en- 
titled to  his  services  and  has  the  right  to  command  him  until 
he  is  fit  tp  go  out  for  himself  as  an  orderly,  obedient  citizen  ; 
and  also  that  of  guardian  and  ward,  for  government  is  charged 
by  the  law  with  the  duty  of  making  such  provisions  as  are 
possible,  to  educate  and  train  the  criminal  to  a  mental  level 
where  he  will  regard  obedience  to  law  as  a  moral  obligation, 
and  so  be  entitled  to  the  blessings  of  liberty,  personal  and 
political. 

This  constitutional  duty  imposed  upon  government,  seems  to 
have  been  misunderstood ;  and  the  provisions  made  have  over- 
looked the  actual  necessities  required  in  order  to  found  the 
penal  code  on  the  principle  of  reformation.  The  reason  for 
this,  perhaps,  may  be  found  in  the  fact  already  stated,  that 
criminal  legislation  has  been  a  matter  of  growth,  successively 
founded  on  preceding  enactments,  without  any  special  effort 
to  consider  the  matter  philosophically.  For  instance,  penal- 
ties have  been  prescribed  as  punishment  for  offences;  they 


Il6  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

were  fixed  and  determined  without  regard  to  any  reform. 
And  when  inflicted,  the  offender  was  restored  to  liberty  and 
citizenship,  regardless  of  the  fact  whether  he  was  morally  bet- 
ter or  worse  than  when  taken  into  custody.  It  was  as  if  a 
banker  found  his  cashier  stealing  money  and  should  suspend 
him,  shut  him  up  a  couple  of  years  or  more,  support  him,  teach 
him  a  trade,  and  at  the  end  of  the  term  put  him  back  as  cash- 
ier, regardless  of  the  fact  whether  he  was  less  or  more  of  a 
thief  than  when  suspended.  A  moment's  consideration  of  the 
constitutional  requirement  will  disclose  that  such  a  code  could 
not  be  the  one  intended  and  required,  and  such  laws  as  were 
made  and  now  largely  obtain  could  not  be  "  founded  on  the 
principle  of  reformation." 

Every  statute  law  should  be  founded  on  and  embody  a  prin- 
ciple applicable  to  the  subject  matter,  to  perpetually  remain  as 
long  as  the  law  exists,  whatever  modifications  or  changes  may 
be  made  in  it.  To  illustrate  :  If  the  legislature  concludes  to 
make  a  general  incorporation  law,  under  which  private  corpor- 
ations can  organize  and  become  invested  with  corporate  rights 
and  powers,  it  should  be  based  on  and  contain  a  principle  em- 
bodying the  intent  and  spirit  of  the  law,  that  should  be  per- 
petual. That  no  rights  should  vest  that  would  deprive  the 
law  of  as  complete  control  over  it  as  it  exercises  over  natural 
persons;  no  business  should  be  conducted  other  than  that 
named  in  the  articles  of  incorporation  ;  no  enlargement  of  capi- 
tal be  allowed  without  permission  of  the  legislature ;  no  con- 
solidation with  other  corporations  be  allowed  without  like  per- 
mission ;  no  formation  of  subordinate  corporations  by  the  same 
members  within  and  subject  to  the  main  corporation  for  any 
purpose ;  and  no  corporation  should  be  organized  for  longer 
than  a  term  to  be  fixed  by  law,  or  be  renewed  on  expiration 
without  legislative  consent,  and  on  dissolution  the  officers  and 
stockholders  should  be  responsible  for  all  debts  and  liabilities. 
(I  cite  these  by  way  of  illustration).  Changes  in  social,  business 
and  political  conditions,  may  render  modifications  of  this  gen. 
eral  law  necessary  ;  but  the  principle — the  heart — should  re- 
main and  all  changes  be  in  accordance  with  it. 

Bearing  this  in  mind,  we  will  take  this  constitutional  direc- 
tion as  to  the  criminal  code,  and  every  proposed  statute, 


GOVERNMENT   AND   THE   CRIMINAL.  I  17 

whether  made  to-day,  next  year,  or  at  any  future  time,  should 
look  to  the  end  to  be  accomplished  by  law,  and  endeavor  to 
know  the  conditions  existing  at  the  time  of  enactment,  the 
rule  of  action  growing  out  of  them,  and  what  rule  of  action 
will  arise  as  a  natural  result  under  the  conditions  as  affected  by 
the  proposed  law  ;  and  then,  so  frame  the  statute  as  to  pre- 
serve the  constitutional  principle  and  make  the  operative  force 
of  the  statute  tend  to  the  end  designed. 

If  the  theories  presented  in  the  preceding  chapters  are 
really  theories,  if  they  agree  with  the  environments,  then  there 
are  principles  that  should  govern  the  preparation  of  laws,  and 
be  recognized  by  government  in  its  enforcement  of  them  as  to 
criminals.  Under  those  principles  all  ideas  of  punishment  by 
the  state  for  the  offence  should  be  laid  aside.  The  idea  of  so 
providing  as  to  effect  reformation  if  that  be  possible,  becomes 
the  principle — the  heart  of  every  enactment.  The  govern- 
ment, in  effect,  says  to  the  criminal :  "  There  can  be  no  liberty, 
no  justice,  no  government,  without  public  order,  and  safety 
for  persons  and  property.  From  some  cause  you  disregard 
this  truth  and  disturb  the  public  order  and  trespass  on  per- 
sons and  property,  and  defy  government.  Therefore,  you 
must  be  taken  from  society  and  be  placed  in  confinement  until 
it  can  be  assertained  why  you  are  an  enemy  to  order.  If  you 
can  be  so  changed  as  to  voluntarily  observe  and  help  maintain 
order,  you  can  be  released ;  if  not,  you  must  remain  in  con- 
finement. It  will  depend  wholly  on  yourself  which  will  result." 
With  this  understanding  the  offender  goes  into  close  custody 
of  the  keepers  and  teachers  provided  by  government,  and  the 
practical  operation  of  the  provisions  made  for  reformation  will 
begin.  These  provisions  will  include  proper  places  for  safe 
keeping;  proper  classification  of  offenders,  on  different  bases 
and  for  different  reasons  and  purposes  ;  proper  provisions  for 
labor,  physical  and  mental  examination  and  culture  ;  in  a  word, 
pathological  treatment  looking  to  the  creation  of  a  mental 
balance,  while  the  delinquent  is  made  to  earn  the  expense  he 
puts  the  government  to  on  his  behalf  as  far  as  possible;  for 
strict  discipline  without  cruelty  or  injustice ;  and  such  pro- 
visions for  a  hearing  on  his  behalf  by  the  supreme  authority 
as  shall  convince  him  that  justice  is  intended  and  within  his 


Il8  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

reach  at  all  times ;  that  if  he  becomes  reformed  he  can  be  re- 
stored to  liberty ;  if  not,  he  will  remain  in  custody.  These 
things  will  be  further  considered  when  I  come  to  speak  of  pun- 
ishment and  prisons.  The  object  now  is,  to  show  that  govern- 
ment has  not  considered  the  true  relations  between  itself  and 
the  criminals,  and  has  not  regarded  the  constitutional  injunc- 
tion in  the  preparation  and  enforcement  of  its  criminal  code. 
It  has  not  made  proper  use  of  the  opportunities  afforded  by 
the  knowledge  gained  by  education,  and  has  produced  a  false 
civilization  in  regard  to  the  criminal  classes.  The  operation 
of  natural  forces  under  the  legal  provisions  it  has  made,  has 
created  a  false  education  in  regard  to  crime  and  punishment ; 
which,  in  turn,  has  operated  to  work  injustice,  and  that  in  turn 
has  begotten  distrust  of  the  law  in  the  orderly  and  led  to  the 
appeal  to  Judge  Lynch  in  all  communities,  on  the  one  hand, 
and  contempt  in  the  disorderly  for  all  claims  of  justice  in  the 
law  as  administered  through  the  courts,  on  the  other  hand.  It 
has  given  rise  to  all  the  complications  that  are  now  involved 
in  the  prison  question.  It  has  disregarded  the  causes  of  exist- 
ing conditions  and  created  forces  that  so  operate  as  to  aggra- 
vate and  magnify  those  causes,  and  so  make  the  conditions 
worse.  It  has  brought  into  action  other  forces  which,  retro- 
actively, have  obstructed  all  practical  legislation  in  the  line 
heretofore  followed.  As  in  the  case  of  the  false  issue  created 
by  the  labor  element ;  evolving  a  baseless  sentiment  that  has 
driven  labor  out  of  many  of  the  prisons  and  turned  criminals  in 
idleness  into  maniacs ;  and  in  another  line  made  legislation 
necessary  that  is  alike  unjust  and  injurious  to  the  government 
and  the  criminal.  It  has  created  an  impractical  and  unrea- 
sonable sentimentality  in  society,  the  outgrowths  of  which 
have  made  a  mockery  of  the  theory  of  punishment,  and  heroes 
of  the  worst  offenders.  Recently,  through  the  indefatigable 
efforts  of  reformers,  and  driven  by  the  necessities  of  the  situa- 
tion, in  some  localities,  government  is  beginning  to  compre- 
hend its  true  relations  toward  the  criminal,  and  efforts  are 
being  made  to  to  make  provisions  "  based  on  the  principles 
of  reformation." 

The  economic  interest  of  government  in  the  legal  provisions, 
and  their  proper  enforcement,  relating  to  criminals,  is  very  im- 


GOVERNMENT  AND   THE   CRIMINAL.  119 

portant  and  cannot  be  overestimated.  It  is  not  one  simply  of 
mere  dollars  and  cents  as  an  item  of  government  expense,  but 
of  a  far  greater  monetary  cost,  in  addition  to  the  social  and 
moral  consequences.  The  expense  to  government  can  be  very 
largely  diminished  by  proper  and  careful  legal  provisions ;  and 
the  saving  to  the  community  at  large  in  safety  to  persons  and 
property  will  be  many  fold  greater  than  that  to  government. 
The  warden,  physician,  and  chaplain  of  a  prison,  should  be 
chosen  for  their  superior  abilities  and  requirements  for  the 
special  duties  required  of  them  in  their  positions.  Especially 
should  the  physician  be  from  among  the  ablest  in  his  profes- 
sion. Not  merely  a  man  to  prescribe  for  the  bodily  ailments 
as  a  doctor,  but  one  who  can  elevate  both  body  and  mind  in 
strength  by  proper  hygienic  and  physical  rules  and  practice. 
The  chaplain  should  be  a  man  of  broad  catholicity  ;  unhamp- 
ered by  special  creed  or  dogma ;  one  who  can  grapple  with 
conditions  and  use  them  for  the  purposes  contemplated  by  the 
law.  If  the  chaplain  finds  a  man  who  is  so  constituted  that  he 
cannot  comprehend  a  special  Providence,  or  the  Christian  idea 
of  a  soul  and  its  salvation,  he  should  be  able  to  find  what 
moral  anchorage  there  may  be,  if  any,  and  by  that  try  to  hold 
his  pupil  to  a  perception  of  right,  as  the  best  for  himself.  If 
he  can  find  nothing  but  the  gross  superstitions  that  govern 
dense  ignorance,  then  be  able  to  use  them  as  a  means  for  con- 
trol, by  stimulating  a  fear  of  evil  and  a  hope  of  good  through 
their  operation,  adapted  to  his  mentality.  The  warden  should 
be  equal  to  either  in  capacity,  and  should  be  educated  to  his 
business.  He  should  be  of  even  temper,  firm,  fearless,  of  suave, 
kindly  manner,  and  one  able  to  establish  and  maintain  disci- 
pline, and  conduct  business  with  good  executive  and  adminis- 
trative ability.  These  men  should  be  placed  above  the  reach 
of  temptation  and  want,  and  once  located  their  place  should  be 
permanent  so  long  as  they  properly  fill  it.  The  results  to  the 
public  from  the  proper  action  of  each,  would  be  more  impor- 
tant than  is  that  of  any  judge  of  a  court,  and  the  dignity,  com- 
pensation, and  value  of  the  position  should  be  recognized  as 
belonging  on  the  highest  plane  occupied  by  officials.  It  is  a 
gravely  mistaken  action  that  makes  the  selection  dependent  on 
a  partisan  political  policy,  and  a  matter  of  cheapness  of  com- 


120  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

pensation,  and  of  "letting''  to  the  lowest  bidder,  on  one  or 
more  of  which  bases  it  has  been  too  often  put.  Government 
has  no  more  important  responsibility  on  it  than  that  involved 
in  providing  for  the  unbalanced  classes  among  the  people  sub- 
ject to  it ;  and  the  highest  intelligence  it  can  command  should 
be  called  into  its  service  in  making  and  maintaining  those  pro- 
visions. These  classes  as  social  and  political  factors  place  gov- 
ernment in  position  of  one  who  has  to  use  a  candle  for  a  light, 
and  is  compelled  to  keep  it  lighted  at  both  ends.  While  they 
disturb  order  and  entail  danger  and  expense  themselves,  they 
propagate  others  of  like  disposition,  and  contaminate  still 
others  who  might  be  orderly  but  for  them.  It  is,  therefore,  the 
best  economy  to  secure  the  highest  order  of  ability  in  caring 
for  those  in  being,  and  prohibit  the  propagation  and  contamin- 
ation of  more,  so  far  as  human  foresight  will  permit. 


CHAPTER  X. 

LEGISLATION    AM)    THE    CRIMINAL. 

THE  legislation  in  this  country  in  relation  to  crime  and  the 
disposition  of  criminals  has  been  an  unstudied  and  un- 
reflecting matter  of  law-making;  formerly  based  on  the  im- 
pulses of  those  taking  an  interest  in  such  legislation  rather 
than  on  reasoning,  and  afterward  the  following  along  in  the 
old  ruts,  adding  to  it  as  change  of  social  conditions  seemed  to 
call  for  an  increase  in  the  list  of  acts  to  be  made  criminal. 
The  great  body  of  the  law  is  the  common  law  of  England, 
adopted  and  made  the  law  in  this  country.  There  were  many 
common-law  offences,  but  in  the  United  States  most  generally, 
it  was  provided  that  crimes  must  be  statutory,  and  no  act  could 
be  treated  as  criminal  except  such  as  should  be  declared  crime 
by  statute.  Statute  must  specifically  define  what  acts  should 
constitute  crime  and  affix  a  penalty.  In  some  states  portions 
of  the  common-law  offences  were  retained  and  might  be  prose- 
cuted as  at  common  law.  The  penalty  was  to  punisli  the 
offender  and  so  deter  him  from  further  offending,  and  by  ex- 
ample deter  others  who  might  be  disposed  to  offend.  With  this 
idea  all  penalties  were  fixed  and  determinate.  If  they  failed  to 
deter  the  offender  they  were  repeated  and  perhaps  increased. 
Formerly  they  were  severe,  but  were  gradually  modified. 
Prisons  were  conducted  as  matters  of  speculation,  and  the 
effort  was  made  to  make  them  self-supporting  or  a  source  of 
profit  to  the  state.  The  criminal  was  to  be  regarded  as  infam- 
ous and  the  badges  of  it  were  to  attach  to  him.  No  thought 
was  taken  for  anything  but  to  make  the  criminal  suffer  in  body 
and  mind  as  punishment,  and  so  create  a  mere  animal  fear  to 
again  offend.  A  large  discretion  was  left  to  court  and  jury  as 
to  the  penalty,  which  was  generally  on  a  sliding  scale  with 
maximum  and  minimum  limit,  to  inflict  the  whole  or  any  part 
above  the  minimum.  While  in  the  motives  of  the  criminal 


122  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

there  would  be  no  difference,  the  law  would  make  distinctions 
in  the  offence  and  penalty  in  some  cases,  but  none  in  another. 
As  instance  in  larceny  :  While  the  motive  and  act  was  to 
steal,  if  the  value  taken  was  under  a  certain  sum  it  was  petit — 
or  little — larceny,  if  over  that  sum  it  was  grand  larceny.  The 
former  might  be  punished  as  a  felony  or  as  a  misdemeanor, 
and  the  latter  as  a  felony  only.  In  assault  and  battery  the 
penalty  might  be  a  fine  of  from  one  cent  to  one  thousand  dol- 
lars, with  or  without  imprisonment  in  jail.  In  trespass  to  real 
property  the  fine  could  not  exceed  twice  the  value  of  the  pro- 
perty injured  and  no  mention  of  malice  is  made,  but  if  it  was 
malicious  trespass  to  personal  property  it  should  be  five  times 
the  value.  The  trespass  to  real  property,  though  intentional, 
was  not  regarded  as  malicious,  but  if  one  slandered  or  libelled 
another  malice  was  implied.  These  examples  are  cited  by  way 
of  general  illustration.  The  criminal  statutes  were  full  of  the 
most  absurd  distinctions,  and  they  are  yet  to  a  material  extent. 
The  entire  mass  of  criminal  legislation  is  far  behind  the  ad- 
vance made  in  all  other  directions,  and  legislators  seem  blind 
to  the  progress  made  on  all  sides,  and  that  the  principles  in- 
cluded in  the  criminal  legislation  are  far  behind  and  are  not 
the  ones  on  which  the  law  should  be  based. 

In  sorrte  things  in  all  of  the  states  and  in  many  things  in 
some  of  the  states  material  advancement  has  been  made,  and 
a  dawn  of  the  true  requirements  in  criminal  legislation  is  be- 
coming visible.  Committees  from  the  legislature  visit  the 
prisons  to  examine  them  and  report  the  results  of  what  they 
find  and  conclude  on  ;  but  generally  they  are  persons  with  lit- 
tle or  no  experimental  knowledge  or  education  upon  the  sub- 
ject of  either  criminals  or  prisons.  Their  visits  are  hurried 
and  brief,  and  the  whole  acquisition  of  knowledge  is  of  little 
or  no  practical  value.  The  visit  is  expected  at  the  prison,  the 
best  foot  is  forward  for  the  reception,  and  the  report,  like  the 
knowledge  gained,  is  of  no  especial  value  as  a  basis  for  crim- 
inal legislation. 

As  a  rule,  boards  of  prison  trustees,  directors,  inspectors, 
and  supervising  officers  under  various  names,  are  selected  on 
partisan  grounds,  from  the  general  public,  having  no  special 
knowledge  as  to  criminals  and  prisons,  and  are  seldom  retained 


LEGISLATION   AND   THE   CRIMINAL.  123 

on  change  of  party  supremacy.  There  are  some  exceptions, 
but  this  action  is  that  generally  taken. 

There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  entire  course  of  legislative 
action  on  the  subject,  as  a  whole,  is  unwise  and  impractical. 
It  ought  to  be  abandoned  and  a  correct  course  of  action  be 
adopted,  based  entirely  upon  the  intendment  of  the  funda- 
mental law  ;  a  code  "  founded  on  the  principle  of  reformation." 
Legislation  to  that  end  would  not  be  difficult  or  complicated. 
I  can  only  briefly  outline  some  of  the  things  it  evidently  should 
include  in  a  general  way,  or  rather,  indicate  the  spirit  of  the 
legislative  action. 

First,  there  should  be  a  clear  and  distinct  definition  of  what 
acts  the  law  will  regard  as  criminal,  classified  and  named,  and 
the  immediate  penalty  should  be,  the  commitment  of  the 
offender  to  the  proper  prison,  male,  female  or  juvenile.  There 
should  be  no  term  fixed,  unless  a  minimum  term  be  fixed  for 
each  grade,  within  which  the  offender  shall  not  be  discharged  ; 
and  to  remain  until  discharged  by  law.  Beyond  the  minimum 
term  (sooner  than  which  there  should  be  no  discharge,  unless 
innocence  be  shown)  it  should  be  indefinite  and  leave  it  de- 
pendent upon  the  condition  of  the  criminal — his  fitness  to  go 
at  large  and  on  what  conditions — when  he  may  do  so,  or 
whether  he  shall  be  continuously  restrained.  The  character  of 
the  crime  and  the  depravity  shown  in  committing  it,  should 
determine  the  least  period  in  the  sentence  for  confinement, 
while  all  the  highest  grades  should  be  for  life.  Such  as  wilful 
murder  without  palliation,  rape,  child  stealing,  arson,  the  use 
of  explosives  to  destroy  persons  or  property,  whether  any  one 
be  injured  or  not,  wrecking  of  railroad  trains,  highway  robbery, 
wilful  perjury  by  which  any  innocent  person  is  convicted  of 
crime  or  their  life  is  endangered,  the  wilful  maiming  of  another 
without  provocation  by  which  they  are  crippled  for  life.  These 
kinds  of  offences  evidence  a  depravity  and  mental  condition 
that  precludes  all  hope  of  reformation,  and  the  one  who  com- 
mits them  should  forfeit  every  right  to  personal  liberty. 

The  state  prison  should  consist  of  a  succession  of  prisons, 
graded  for  the  purpose  intended,  and  consisting  of  not  less 
than  three — a  receiving  and  reforming  prison;  an  intermediate 
restraining  prison  for  the  unreformable  but  not  vicious  class ; 


124  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

and  the  incorrigible  prison,  for  the  hardened  and  irreclaimable. 
I  shall  speak  of  prisons  separately,  and  notice  them  here  only 
so  far  as  is  necessary  to  discuss  the  subject  in  hand.  The 
sentence  to  prison  should  send  the  criminal  to  the  receiving 
prison,  there  to  remain  unless,  under  the  rules,  he  proves  un- 
reformable  or  irreclaimable,  when  he  should  be  sent  forward  to 
either  of  the  others. 

A  prison  board  should  be  provided  for  as  a  subordinate 
government  agency,  a  municipal  corporation,  with  powers  of 
local  legislation  for  the  erection  and  repair  of  prisons  ordered 
by  the  legislature,  and  for  the  government  and  management  in 
prisons.  Its  action  should  be  called  for  in  report  by  the  legis- 
ture  at  any  time,  and  be  subject  to  revision  and  modification, 
but  should  bet  authoritative  until  modified.  It  should  not  have 
power,  like  a  city,  to  create  any  vested  rights  in  its  contracts  or 
dealings  to  the  injury  of  the  interests  of  the  state,  but  should 
have  liberal  powers  in  relation  to  providing  for  proper  restraint, 
treatment,  and  disposition  of  convicts  committed.  It  should 
have  power  to  parol  criminals  and  recommend  to  the  pardon- 
ing power  for  pardon,  under  restrictions  connected  with  a 
board  of  charities  and  correction.  It  should  appoint  the  war- 
den, physician,  and  chaplain  of  the  prisons,  and  have  super- 
visory control  over  all  their  appointees  and  assistants,  with 
power  to  suspend  or  remove  them  for  cause.  The  members 
should  hold  their  office  during  competency  and  good  behavior, 
but  be  removable  by  the  governor  or  legislature  for  cause, 
on  charges  preferred  by  any  responsible  person,  on  trial  and 
finding  against  them.  The  law  should  be  plain,  simple,  direct, 
free  from  complications,  and  with  a  view  to  crystallize  the 
subject  matter  under  one  competent  management,  ably  of- 
ficered, amply  compensated,  and  protected  from  improper  in- 
terference, so  that  a  system  may  be  established  and  maintained 
that  will  constantly  tend  to  accomplish  the  end  desired,  to  wit : 
the  reformation  of  the  reformable,  the  safe  restraint  of  the  unre- 
formable,  and  a  compensatory  utility  of  all  while  under  impris- 
onment. This  cannot  be  done  by  any  shifting  or  changeable 
policy,  of  either  officials  or  plans.  All  promising  plans  should 
be  tried,  and  all  officials  should  become  educated  ;  and  the  only 
hope  for  good  results  is  in  stability  of  judicious  management. 


LEGISLATION   AND   THE   CRIMINAL.  125 

The  code  of  procedure  in  criminal  cases  should  be  designed 
to  screen  the  innocent,  and  hold  the  guilty  when  once  charged 
with  offence.  A  mass  of  chaff  that  now  clogs  the  proceedings 
in  court  should  be  winnowed  out,  and  many  so-called  safe- 
guards, that  oftener  prove  to  be  the  reverse,  and  all  techni- 
calities, should  be  removed. 

The  acts  complained  of  by  government,  in  every  charge, 
should  be  plainly  and  clearly  stated,  without  technicalities  or 
useless  legal  formalites,  and  they  should  come  clearly  within 
the  line  of  the  definition  of  the  statutory  offence  complained 
of.  If  the  defendant  be  plainly  advised  of  what  he  is  charged 
with,  no  want  of  formality  should  be  permitted  to  hinder  or 
obstruct  the  hearing.  He  should  be  permitted  to  make  any 
statement  of  defence  he  may  have  in  like  manner,  and  always 
have  the  implied  defence  of  "  not  guilty."  He  should  be  al- 
lowed to  be  a  witness  in  his  own  behalf.  No  presumptions 
should  be  allowed  against  him  only  such  as  properly  attend  on 
and  grow  out  of  the  evidence.  The  case  should  be  fairly  tried 
on  its  merits,  freed  from  all  useless  technicalities,  with  an  hon- 
est effort  to  get  at  the  truth  and  clearly  disclose  if,  in  fact,  the 
defendant  be  guilty  or  innocent;  and  the  court  should  have 
power  to  pursue  any  line  of  inquiry  that  will  show  the  exis- 
tence of  all  the  facts  as  they  are ;  those  in  provocation  or 
palliation  of  the  act ;  those  that  show  the  capacity  of  the  de- 
fendant to  comprehend  the  force  and  consequences  of  the  act, 
or  the  reverse  ;  and  disclose  every  material  thing  that  will  show 
the  true  relations  existing  between  defendant  and  government, 
as  to  being  a  wilful  and  malicious  offender,  or  an  ignorant  and 
not  wilful  one,  or  an  accidental  one.  The  agreement  of  two- 
thirds  of  the  jurors  should  constitute  a  verdict. 

If  a  defendant  have  incompetent  counsel,  the  court  should 
be  required  to  see  that  such  full  and  meritorious  defence  as  he 
may  have  is  laid  before  the  court  or  jury ;  and  that  neither 
from  his  ignorance  or  poverty,  or  inability  of  his  counsi  1,  he  is 
deprived  of  what  honest  defence  he  may  have.  All  argument 
should  be  strictly  confined  to  the  allegations  and  the  evidence, 
to  the  record  as  made  in  the  case  and  the  law  applicable  to  it. 

Before  trial  the  defendant  with  his  counsel  should  be  afforded 
an  interview  with  the  court  and  prosecutor.  They  should 


126  THE   PRISON   QUESTION'. 

inform  him  with  what  he  is  charged,  and  that  inquiry  by  trial 
is  about  to  be  made  to  learn  if  the  charge  is  true;  and  they 
should  advise  him  fully  as  to  the  penalty.  That  it  is  the  duty 
of  the  ministers  of  the  law  to  ascertain  if  the  charge  be  true, 
and  if  true  he  will  be  subject  to  the  penalty.  That  the  law 
protects  him  as  well  as  every  other  person,  and  if  the  charge  is 
not  true,  the  law  officers  are  as  desirous  that  it  shall  be  made 
to  appear,  as  they  are  that  it  be  shown  he  is  guilty,  if  that  be 
true.  That  he  is  not  required  to  make  any  statement,  but  if 
he  desires  to  make  any  he  can  do  so.  That  they  will  use  any 
facts  he  gives  them  as  they  would  any  other  knowledge,  to  aid 
in  discovering  if  the  .charge  be  true  or  false,  and  the  oppor- 
tunity is  given  to  him  to  give  any  facts  that  may  aid  in  that 
discovery. 

The  prosecutor  should  be  sworn  as  the  grand  jurors  are 
sworn  ;  to  prosecute  no  one  from  hatred,  envy,  malice,  or  ill 
will,  nor  for  the  mere  purpose  of  securing  a  conviction  because 
the  defendant  is  charged,  without  respect  to  the  real  question 
of  his  guilt ;  nor  will  he  leave  any  unprosecuted  from  fear, 
favor,  affection,  reward  or  the  hope  of  any ;  but  in  all  prosecu- 
tions he  will  honestly,  fairly  and  to  the  best  of  his  ability 
endeavor  to  discover  and  disclose  the  truth  or  falsity  of  the 
charge  as  made,  to  the  end  that  the  guilty  may  be  convicted 
and  the  innocent  be  vindicated.  It  is  too  much  the  practice 
for  prosecutors  to  forget  that  they  represent  the  people,  in- 
cluding the  defendant,  and  to  remember  only  that  they  are 
lawyers  and  must  win  their  case  against  all  odds.  As  lawyer 
and  official  they  should  exert  themselves  for  a  perfectly  fair 
trial ;  for  they  "  win  their  case  "  when  by  that  course  an  honest 
and  just  verdict  is  obtained,  whether  the  charge  be  sustained 
or  disproved. 

One  of  the  absurdities  and  barbarisms  of  the  statutes  as 
now  enforced — as  it  has  always  seemed  to  me — is  the  dis- 
tinction between  proceedings  before  the  grand  and  petit 
juries  in  most  respects;  and  also  between  the  oath  and  the 
action  of  the  grand  jury.  The  grand  jury  is  intended  to  be 
a  bulwark  between  the  state  and  abuse  of  the  criminal  law 
by  any  one.  It  is  also  a  wall  of  protection  for  all  persons 
against  a  malicious  use  of  the  criminal  law  to  persecute 


LEGISLATION  AND   THE   CRIMINAL.  I2/ 

others.  No  person  charged  with  offence  has  any  voice  in 
the  selection  of  the  jurors.  They  constitute  an  independent 
body  for  the  sole  purpose  of  inquiry.  They  are  "  the  grand 
inquest,"  unhampered  by  rules  or  technicalities  in  their 
search  as  to  the  truth  or  falsity  of  charges.  They  are  sworn 
to  well  and  diligently  inquire  into  such  matters  as  may  come 
before  them  or  be  given  them  in  charge  by  the  court ;  and 
make  a  true  presentment  in  writing  of  their  findings  to  the 
court.  That  neither  hatred,  envy,  malice,  or  ill  will  on  the  one 
hand,  nor  fear,  favor,  affection,  or  reward,  or  the  hope  of  it,  on 
the  other,  shall  cause  them  to  make  a  presentment  against  any 
one  or  neglect  to  present  any  one  ;  and  in  all  they  do  present 
they  will  present  the  truth,  the  whole  truth  and  nothing  but 
the  truth.  They  have  the  prosecutor  for  a  legal  adviser  if  they 
wish  his  advice.  They  may  ask  the  court  for  any  instructions 
as  to  their  duties  and  how  to  discharge  them.  They  may  act 
exclusively  on  their  own  judgment.  They  sit  with  closed 
doors,  make  their  inquiries  secretly,  and  are  sworn  to  keep 
secret  whatever  transpires  before  them. 

Now  what  are  their  duties  under  this  oath  and  the  legal 
obligations  of  their  office  ?  It  is,  to  diligently  inquire  as  to  the 
truth  of  any  matter  laid  before  them,  as  to  violations  of 
the  criminal  statutes ;  and  to  do  this  the  entire  power  of  the 
state  is  at  their  command  and  service.  But  what  is  the  prac- 
tice? Why,  to  only  half  inquire.  To  examine  only  such 
witnesses  as  those  making  the  charge  bring  forward.  When 
they  have  been  heard,  if  the  jury  thinks  a  probable  case  is 
made  it  makes  a  presentment  under  oath  that  the  accused 
committed  the  crime.  The  person  charged  knows  nothing  of 
the  charge  or  inquiry  in  some  cases.  If  his  side  had  been 
"diligently"  inquired  into,  possibly  no  presentment  would 
have  been  made.  In  the  very  necessity  of  the  case  the  jury 
do  not  know  if  they  have  presented  the  whole  truth.  It  will 
not  do  to  say  that  only  the  state's  evidence  was  given  them  in 
charge,  for  that  is  not  true,  and  it  defeats  the  protection  in- 
tended and  aids  in  persecution  if  intended.  It  will  not  do  to 
say  such  has  always  been  the  practice,  for  it  is  a  wrong  prac- 
tice and  should  be  discontinued.  The  first  thing  given  in 
charge  was  an  accusation  of  crime  against  some  person.  As 


128  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

to  that,  they  are  to  inquire  and  ascertain  the  truth  and  the 
whole  truth,  sift  out  from  everything  before  them  all  but  the 
truth.  That  they  are  to  present.  How  can  that  be  done  with 
inquiry  as  to  only  one  side?  And  how  does  the  grand  inquest 
aid  to  prevent  persecution  if  persons  making  accusations  are 
alone  to  have  a  hearing? 

When  the  presentment  based  on  half  inquiry  is  made,  and 
which  a  majority  of  the  jury  can  do  in  some  states,  the  accused 
is  taken  into  custody  and  another  inquiry  is  made  openly  in 
court  before  another  jury,  in  which  full  and  diligent  inquiry  is 
made  as  to  both  sides  ;  but  that  jury  cannot  convict  on  a 
probability;  it  must  find  the  presentment  to  be  true  beyond 
all  reasonable  doubt,  and  the  full  jury  must  agree. 

It  is  hardly  possible  to  escape  the  impression  of  a  gross 
inconsistency  in  this  kind  of  proceeding  as  a  means  of  securing 
justice  to  either,  the  state  or  the  accused.  Let  us  suppose  a 
change  made  in  the  law  to  this  effect  :  As  soon  as  a  charge  is 
laid  before  the  prosecutor  or  the  grand  jury  on  which  inquiry 
must  be  made,  or  in  cases  of  suspicion  where  inquiry  is  made, 
as  soon  as  the  jury  finds  enough  facts  to  convince  it  that  full 
inquiry  should  be  made  as  to  any  particular  person,  that  the 
accused  in  the  one  case  or  the  suspected  in  the  other,  is  taken 
into  custody  and  bailed,  if  a  bailable  offence,  or  held  until  in- 
quiry can  be  made.  He  is  informed  of  the  charge  or  sus- 
picion. The  grand  jury  are  to  make  diligent  inquiry  and  pre- 
sent the  truth  as  now,  and  the  inquiry  is  to  be  to  learn  the 
whole  truth,  and  they  are  to  differ  from  a  petit  jury  only  in 
this:  they  need  not  be  convinced  beyond  doubt,  but  may 
present  the  facts  as  they  believe  them  to  be,  although  every 
avenue  inconsistent  with  innocence  .may  not  be  closed;  al- 
though further  time  and  inquiry  may  disclose  facts  not  now 
apparent,  justifying  other  conclusions.  They  are  not  bound 
and  held  by  the  formalities  and  technicalities  of  a  trial  in  court 
and  may  hear  and  consider  anything  that  tends  to  elicit  the 
truth — statements  that  could  not  go  before  a  petit  jury — ques- 
tions that  could  not  be  asked  there.  If  they  believe  the  ac- 
cused guilty,  and  find  what  they  believe  to  be  evidence  admis- 
sible in  court  sufficient  to  prove  guilt,  then  make  the  present- 
ment. In  such  an  inquiry  (at  such  stage  of  the  inquiry  as  they 


LEGISLATION   AND   THE   CRIMINAL.  .         129 

deem  best)  they  should  give  the  accused  a  chance  to  be  heardr 
and  inquire  into  such  accessible  sources  of  information  as  he 
may  furnish.  In  a  word,  seek  to  discover  the  whole  truth. 
They  are  not  limited  or  restrained  or  hampered,  and  have  every 
advantage  to  secure  evidence  to  show  every  material  fact,  and 
to  protect  themselves  against  imposition,  unreasonable  delay 
and  useless  expense.  No  technicalities  as  to  questions,  evi- 
dence, hearsay,  or  procedure,  limit  the  inquiry.  On  such  an  in- 
quiry no  injustice  could  be  done  to  any  one.  Without  such  in- 
quiry great  injustice  may  be  done  and  is  now  often  done.  Where 
the  accused  cannot  be  arrested  the  inquest  can  go  on  ;  but  the 
jury  should  inquire  as  to  his  innocence  as  well  as  to  his  guilt,  as 
far  as  any  facts  can  be  made  to  appear  by  diligent  inquiry,  and 
the  presentment  should  show  if  arrest  has  been  made  or  not, 
Such  a  proceeding  could  be  rightly  called  "  the  grand  inquest ;" 
but  as  now  conducted  it  is  anything  but  grand.  In  inquiry  pro- 
ceeding on  suspicion,  it  can  be  secret  until  it  is  deemed  enough 
is  disclosed  to  arrest  the  accused,  and  he  can  then  be  held 
until  the  inquiry  is  ended.  When  a  presentment  comes  before 
a  petit  jury,  the  accused  having  been  arrested,  there  should  be 
no  useless  technicalities  to  obstruct  or  hinder  diligent  inquiry 
as  to  the  exact  truth  of  the  presentment.  The  grand  jury  in- 
quires as  to  crime  and  who  committed  it.  The  petit  jury 
formally  tries  the  particular  person  on  the  specific  charge  pre- 
sented. One  is  unlimited,  the  other  limited.  If  the  accused 
voluntarily  absents  himself,  the  hearing  should  go  on  as  if  he 
were  present.  The  prosecutor  and  court  should  see  to  it  that 
all  of  the  evidence  is  presented,  that  the  truth  may  be  known. 
If  there  be  a  conviction  the  court  should  enter  judgment  and 
the  convict  be  sent  to  prison  whenever  re-arrested.  Having  had 
his  day  in  court  and  waived  every  advantage  of  being  present,, 
he  should  be  precluded  as  he  would  be  had  he  been  present. 
The  constitution  could  be  readily  amended  so  as  to  admit  of 
these  modifications  where  needed,  and  some  of  them  could  be 
made  without  such  amendment. 

With  these  suggestions — perhaps  only  hints,  for  they  can 
hardly  be  called  more — as  to  modifications  in  regard  to  crim- 
inal legislation,  I  desire  to  present  some  other  views  that  are 
germane  to  the  subject  matter.  The  sole  end  and  aim  of  the 


130  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

law  is,  to  accomplish  justice.  If  any  particular  statute  alone, 
or  any  part  of  the  law  in  combination  with  other  parts  so  oper- 
ates as  to  create  antagonisms  which  defeat  that  aim,  it  is  bad 
legislation  and  should  be  modified  or  repealed.  The  laws 
should  be  framed  and  so  enforced  as  to  command  the  confi- 
dence and  respect  of  the  people.  Every  statute  should  be  so 
framed  that  the  spirit  of  justice  will  be  visible  when  it  is  en- 
forced. No  bill  for  an  act  should  pass  the  legislature  until  its 
provisions  are  so  formulated  as  to  meet  not  only  this  require- 
ment as  to  its  own  operations,  but  it  should  be  ascertained  how 
it  will  affect  or  be  affected  by  other  laws  already  in  force,  and 
what  will  be  the  effect  of  antagonism  or  modifications  in  any 
and  all  forms  that  may  arise.  Especially  should  inquiry  be 
made  as  to  the  necessity  for  and  the  utility  of  the  proposed  act. 
If  decided  on,  then  it  should  be  so  framed  as  to  leave  no  doubt 
as  to  the  legislative  intention,  and  that  the  end  of  the  law — 
the  accomplishment  of  justice — will  be  apparent  in  its  opera- 
tion. 

In  relation  to  criminal  law,  no  respect  can  be  felt  for  statutes 
that,  like  the  hypocrite  who,  "  with  one  hand  puts  a  penny  in 
the  urn  of  poverty  and  with  the  other  takes  a  shilling  out,"  in 
one  set  of  provisions  provide  for  and  sanction  the  unlimited 
procreation  of  criminal  mentalities,  and  in  another  set  of  pro- 
visions punish  the  victims  as  offenders,  support  them  by  the 
labors  of  honest  people,  and  try  to  reform  them  and  turn  them 
loose  again.  It  is  absurd  to  tax  people  to  build  and  maintain 
prisons  and  reformatories,  and  then  enact  laws  that  permit  of 
the  certain  procreation  of  more  people  than  will  keep  them 
full.  Yet  that  is  exactly  what  the  legislation  now  in  force  ac- 
complishes. In  the  first  place,  no  restraint  or  limitations  are 
provided  in  relation  to  marriage  among  those  who  are  totally 
unfit  for  that  relation.  Both  state  and  church  take  part  in 
uniting  people  in  marriage  without  inquiry,  and  the  officials  in 
both  know  that,  the  issue  in  many  cases  must  be  of  a  vicious 
character,  either  pauper,  or  criminal,  or  incurably  diseased. 
The  results  are,  a  constant  procession  of  criminals  and  sinners 
starting  at  the  cradles  and  moving  into  the  public  institutions, 
leaving  more  or  less  evil  influences  along  the  way.  The  re- 
sources of  the  state  are  heavily  taxed  to  support,  and  in  fruit- 


LEGISLATION   AND   THE   CRIMINAL.  131 

less  efforts  to  reform,  what  it  has  aided  to  deform  ;  and  the 
church  is  calling  for  aid  on  all  hands  to  support  it  while  it 
seeks  to  make  Christians  out  of  those  it  has  aided  in  making 
sinners.  This  subject  should  receive  legislative  attention,  on 
the  lines  suggested  in  the  chapter  on  marriage.  As  now  oper- 
ative the  law  does  constant  violence  to  "the  principle  of 
reformation." 

Another  consideration  relates  to  the  palatial  provisions  for 
the  unfortunate  classes.  The  buildings  prepared  for  the  insane 
cost  from  ten  to  twelve  hundred  dollars  for  each  patient  it  is 
intended  to  accommodate.  That  is  equal  to  the  cost  of  a 
good  residence  for  a  fair-sized  family.  With  the  exception  of 
a  few,  the  majority  of  the  inmates  come  from  among  the 
classes  of  people  that  have  never  known  anything  of  luxuries 
or  more  than  the  most  common  provisions  ;  while  no  inconsider- 
able number  are  from  the  pauper  and  criminal  classes.  Very 
few  of  them  are  ever  really  cured.  A  strong  mind  occasion- 
ally may  become  unbalanced  and  be  restored.  Many  are  sent 
out  as  cured,  but  while  they  may  be  sane  they  are  not  cured 
and  are  liable  to  relapse  at  any  time.  To  go  back  to  a  home 
and  provisions  very  far  below  the  level  of  the  asylum — some 
to  a  pauper's  fare — and  become  the  progenitors  of  offspring, 
is  inimical  to  their  own  and  the  public  good  ;  and  as  business — 
conducted  by  government — it  is  the  exact  policy  of  the  one 
who,  on  the  pretence  of  aiding  charity,  robs  the  poor. 

The  prevailing  methods  operate  to  create  inordinate  expense 
to  care  for  and  reform  the  evil,  worthless  and  unbalanced 
classes,  while  constantly  increasing  their  numbers.  It  is  much 
like  the  government  in  need  of  a  navy,  pursuing  the  following 
policy:  While  it  has  unlimited  supplies  of  sound,  suitable 
timber,  inexhaustible  mines  of  mineral,  and  abundant  sources 
of  the  best  supplies  of  every  kind,  it  converts  it  into  money, 
and  then  goes  along  its  coasts,  digs  up  the  wrecks  and  buried 
hulks  of  ships,  and  uses  their  decayed  and  deteriorated  ma- 
terial to  build  naval  ships  with.  It  employs  and  pays  the 
best  talent  and  ability  to  prepare  yards,  machinery  and  docks 
to  build  the  vessels  and  equip  them,  and  then  turns  the  guns 
upon  its  own  towns  and  cities  and  bombards  the  property  of 
their  occupants.  The  government  needs  a  sound,  sane  and 


132  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

healthy  population.  It  has  the  best  of  stock  from  which  to- 
produce  it.  Instead,  it  permits  and  encourages  the  production 
of  the  most  worthless  at  home,  and  opens  its  ports  to  un- 
limited immigration  of  the  same  kind  from  abroad.  It  squan- 
ders immense  sums  for  schools,  asylums,  almshouses,  t-eforma- 
tories,  orphans'  and  foundlings'  homes,  homes  for  abandoned 
women,  feeble-minded  children,  industrial  schools  for  incorrigible 
youths,  houses  of  refuge,  and  other  institutions,  provides  them 
with  the  highest  ability  and  skill  for  managers,  physicians  and 
other  officials,  furnishes  them  luxuriously  to  receive,  care  forr 
treat,  educate  and  reform  these  classes,  taxing  the  sound  and 
healthy  people  to  pay  the  expense.  It  then  turns  the  worthless 
classes  loose  to  become  members  of  society,  electors,  and  politi- 
cal factors  in  means  for  government,  and  to  contaminate  and 
taint  more  or  less,  morally  and  physically,  those  they  meet, 
and  to  become  the  progenitors  of  others.  That  is,  they  try  to 
make  sound  persons  of  those  already  wrecked  and  decayed  at 
the  expense  of  sound  people,  and  then  use  them  to  produce 
more  unsound  ones  ;  exactly  like  selling  the  sound  material 
and  using  the  navy  made  of  wrecks  with  the  money,  in  bombard- 
ing the  coasts  that  need  protection. 

While  these  classes  should  be  properly  provided  for,  it  should 
be  in  an  entirely  different  way  from  the  one  now  followed. 
Architectural  skill  of  the  highest  order  designs  and  erects 
palatial  buildings.  Landscape  gardeners  design  the  most  beau- 
tiful grounds;  professional  florists,  with  elaborate  hot-houses 
and  conservatories  and  unstinted  means,  cultivate  as  if  for  some 
royal  family;  elegantly  furnished  apartments,  with  every  modern 
convenience,  as  if  for  aristocratic  guests  of  the  finest  hotel, 
are  provided  for  officials  and  employes  in  the  provisions  for 
many  institutions.  When  we  approach  and  enter  one  of  these 
institutions  we  are  impressed  as  we  might  be  on  entering  the 
residence  of  some  nobleman  or  prince.  Not  one  of  the  in- 
mates— from  the  highest  official  to  the  weakest  patient — has 
ever  lived  with  any  such  surroundings  of  their  own.  The 
wards  of  the  state  are,  nearly  all  of  them,  from  among  the 
plain  and  poorer  classes  of  the  people.  The  cost  and  expense 
of  all  of  it  is  paid  from  the  taxes  levied  on  the  labor  of  the 
country — for  on  that  it  all  falls  in  the  end.  The  sound,  healthy, 


LEGISLATION   AND   THE   CRIMINAL.  133 

industrious  and  moral,  who  live  plain,  work  hard,  know  little 
of  luxury  and  many  know  nothing  of  it,  pay  to  help  support 
all  this  extravagance  for  those  who  are  unsound  and  diseased ; 
some  are  immoral  or  criminal ;  some  are  idiotic,  and  scarcely 
one  is  capable  of  being  made  so  they  can  contribute  to  the 
expense  of,  or  in  any  way  help  to  uphold  government,  or,  un- 
aided, even  provide  for  themselves.  Not  twenty  per  cent,  of 
them  are  ever  made  fit  for  the  duties  of  citizenship  and  the  re- 
sponsibilities of  life.  It  is  sentimental  fallacy  substituted  for 
philosophical  reason  that  has  established  such  conditions  and 
practice.  It  is  a  false  use  of  the  power  of  legislation  to  enact 
laws  to  carry  out  such  systems.  One  hundredth  part  of  the 
effort  and  expense  now  used,  if  used  in  wise  efforts  to  prevent 
the  production  of  these  classes,  would  effect  more  in  one 
decade  in  reducing  the  number,  than  can  be  fitted  for  the  re- 
sponsible duties  of  life  in  these  institutions  in  a  century.  Rea- 
sonable and  proper  provisions  should  be  made  for  these  classes, 
but  the  senseless  extravagance  that  has  been  indulged  in 
should  cease. 

In  contrast  with  this  extravagance  on  one  hand,  there  is  an 
erroneous  idea  prevailing  on  the  other,  in  some  cases,  that 
public  parsimony  is  public  economy.  This  is  notably  ex- 
hibited in  providing  officials  for  prison  affairs.  The  legislature 
seems  to  provide  as  if  competent  men  will  be  patriotic  enough 
to  give  their  best  energies  to  public  use  without  compensation 
— finding  that  in  the  honor  of  the  position.  The  truth  is,  that 
the  man  of  honor  with  the  necessary  ability,  is  either  busily 
engaged  with  affairs  of  his  own  and  has  no  spare  time  to  give 
away,  or  if  he  has  no  business  and  is  independent,  he  is  not  will- 
ing to  surrender  his  personal  comfort  and  domestic  pleasures, 
to  assume  the  specially  onerous  duties  involved  in  an  efficient 
and  honest  supervision  of  prisons  and  criminals.  The  oc- 
cupants for  such  positions  must  be  looked  for  among  the  class 
of  persons  who  are  willing  to  accept  compensation,  who  are 
Avorth  it,  and  who  will  devote  their  best  efforts  to  the  duties 
required,  for  a  sufficent  compensation.  The  compensation 
should  be  sufficient  to  command  the  very  best.  A  man  who 
has  never  been  able  to  earn  and  lay  up  something,  will  often 
seek  a  salaried  office  far  above  his  abilities  to  manage  properly, 


134  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

and  all  intermediate  positions  are  eagerly  sought  by  impecu- 
nious candidates.  The  offices  are  like  a  baited  trap  set  by  law 
and  the  strife  commences  to  see  who  can  get  the  bait  and  miss 
the  trap  ;  the  candidates  and  their  friends  proceed  to  so  manage 
voters — with  little  scruple  as  to  means — as  in  their  opinions 
will  secure  the  office.  Promises,  misrepresentations,  bribes, 
and  all  the  means  used  in  "machine  politics"  are  brought  to 
bear.  The  shrewdest,  and  not  the  best  always,  gets  the  bait 
and  leaves  the  others  in  the  trap.  Prisons  especially,  should 
be  put  entirely  beyond  the  reach  of  this  influence.  The  state 
is  able  and  should  provide  all  that  is  required  to  preserve  the 
public  peace  and  order  by  removing  and  restraining  all  disturb- 
ing elements.  The  means  that  will  do  it  the  most  certainly 
and  effectually,  and  show  as  much  favor  to  offenders  as  that 
kind  of  means  will  permit,  is  the  cheapest  and  most  economi- 
cal, no  matter  what  it  costs.  There  should  be  no  emoluments 
or  perquisites  attached  to  any  position.  The  compensation, 
should  be  fixed  by  law,  the  incumbent  be  required  to  render 
every  service  demanded  by  the  place,  and  be  held  to  strict  ac- 
countability. All  perquisites,  if  any  are  provided  for,  should 
go  to  the  state  toward  paying  expenses.  The  compensation 
should  be  liberal  enough  to  justify  such  ability  as  is  desired  in 
accepting  it,  and  devoting  the  proper  time  and  attention  to 
the  duties ;  and  all  legislation  providing  for  officials  and  em- 
ployes should  be  based  on  the  principles  here  presented.  Men 
who  want  official  position  want  it  in  order  to  make  something 
out  of  it ;  either  money,  or  as  a  stepping-stone  to  something 
higher,  and  opening  better  opportunities  to  make  money.  It 
is  not  patriotism  or  benevolence  that  moves  them  as  a  whole. 
There  are  some  exceptions,  but  they  are  not  likely  to  be  found 
among  those  needed  as  officials  in  connection  with  criminals 
and  prisons.  No  official  position  in  connection  with  either 
has  anything  in  it  likely  to  add  to  one's  comfort  or  pleasure, 
and  therefore,  they  will  not  be  sought  by  the  order  of  ability 
that  can  best  fill  them,  but  by  those  I  have  named.  Hence, 
such  compensation  should  be  fixed  and  qualifications  required, 
as  will  induce  the  best  to  accept  the  place,  and  by  having  the 
best  the  state's  interests  will  be  best  served. 

In  all  legislation  relating  to  criminals  and  prisons  the  legis- 


LEGISLATION   AND   THE   CRIMINAL.  135 

lature  should  look  at  the  subject  as  a  matter  of  business  in  gov- 
ernment, entirely.  The  first  step  in  any  just  system  must  be 
based  on  the  idea — the  necessity — of  protection  to  those  who 
would  preserve  the  public  order,  and  that  order  must  conform 
to  a  practical  and  consistent  standard  of  right  and  wrong,  tem- 
porary though  it  may  be.  It  should  be  made  to  govern  men 
as  we  find  them,  regardless  of  what  they  may  believe  as  to  the 
past  or  desire  or  hope  as  to  the  future.  That  is,  it  must  be  a 
determinate  one  to  which  individuals  must  conform,  whatever 
their  individual  opinions  or  hopes  may  be. 

Under  existing  conditions  we  may  be  justified  in  asserting 
that,  whatever  will  give  the  greatest  latitude  to  individuals 
consistent  with  public  order,  and  avoid  infringement  upon 
others,  is  right.  That  which,  in  the  acts  of  individuals,  in- 
fringes upon  others  or  tends  to  disorder,  is  wrong. 

Whatever  tends  to  elevate  and  refine,  intellectually  and  so- 
cially, is  right.  That  which  tends  to  degrade  and  make  coarse 
and  ignorant,  is  wrong. 

Whatever  tends  to  physical  and  mental  improvement  and 
perfection,  is  right.  That  which  tends  to  physical  and  mental 
disease  and  deterioration,  is  wrong. 

In  propositions  for  details  under  these  principles  the  opinion 
of  the  majority  expressed  according  to  the  forms  prescribed  by 
law,  must  be  authoritative.  Wre  may  look  to  reason  and  ex- 
perience for  a  guide  in  maintaining  these  propositions,  and  in 
fixing  the  limits  upon  the  statute  books,  so  far  as  statutory 
law  can  be  made  operative.  The  theory  is,  to  so  provide  as  to 
encourage  right  and  prohibit  wrong.  Prohibition  does  not 
follow  any  punishment  inflicted  by  the  state  to  any  encourag- 
ing extent.  Legislation  should  repel  the  idea  of  punishment 
by  the  state,  and  regard  it  only  as  an  element  of  discipline  in 
the  prison.  It  should  repel  the  idea  of  humiliating  and  de- 
grading the  convict  by  the  state.  That  belongs  with  punish- 
ment as  an  element  of  prison  discipline.  It  should  exclude  all 
sentimentality  and  provide  for  the  public  safety  and  welfare  as 
the  highest  order  of  business,  in  government.  The  penalties 
fixed  by  the  statute  should  not  be  for  punishment,  but  as  a 
condition  following  the  forfeiture  of  civil  rights  as  a  result  from 
crime  ;  which  condition  the  convict  voluntarily  places  himself 


136  THE    PRISON    QUESTION. 

in.  Provisions  for  punishment  should  come  through  regula- 
tions of  the  prison  board,  for  discipline,  and  among  the  means 
for  reformation.  Legislation  should  provide  for  preventing 
the  infliction  of  cruel  and  unusual  punishments  in  the  prisons  ; 
but  nothing  can  be  more  mischievous  and  absurd  than  the 
state's  attempting  by  law  to  inflict  punishment.  It  can  pro- 
vide for  deprivation  of  liberty  and  property,  as  forfeitures  that 
will  follow  prohibited  or  forbidden  acts,  but  it  does  not  oper- 
ate as  punishment  any  more  than  any  other  loss  from  breach 
of  contract.  It  is  a  misuse  of  the  word  to  talk  about  punish- 
ment by  the  state.  That  burden  upon  and  absurdity  in  legis- 
lation should  be  removed. 

Legislation  should  provide  for  a  State  Board  of  Charities 
and  Correction.  (This  has  been  done  by  several  of  the  states, 
but  they  need  enlarged  powers.)  It  should  have  the  powers  of 
a  court.  It  should  be  composed  of  the  highest  obtainable 
ability.  It  should  be  so  constituted  as  to  be  non-partisan  and 
non-sectarian,  and  the  compensation  sufficient  to  justify  able 
persons  to  devote  the  requisite  time  to  the  duties.  The  tenure 
should  be  long  enough  to  ensure  efficiency  and  be  made  as 
permanent  as  possible.  The  members  should  be  removed  only 
for  incompetency,  inefficiency  and  malfeasance.  It  should 
have  general  supervision  over  all  charitable  and  reformatory 
institutions  in  the  state,  public  and  private,  with  power  as  a 
court  to  make  and  enforce  necessary  orders  to  secure  obedience 
to  the  law.  It  should  make  frequent  visits  and  inspection  of 
all  public  institutions ;  examine  into  all  contracts  made  for 
supplies  and  the  manner  in  which  they  are  executed  ;"  how 
supplies  are  delivered,  cared  for,  distributed  and  disposed  of; 
all  receipts  and  expenditures ;  how  accounts  and  records  are 
kept ;  how  inmates  are  cared  for  and  treated  and  how  em- 
ployes perform  their  duties.  It  should  prosecute  for  removal 
any  incompetent  official,  and  for  removal  and  punishment  any 
who  are  guilty  of  neglect  of  duty  or  malfeasance  in  office.  In 
connection  with  the  governor  it  should  constitute  a  Board  of 
Pardons,  and  in  connection  with  the  Prison  Board,  a  Board  of 
Parole  for  convicts.  It  should  examine  all  rules  made  for 
government  of  institutions  and  have  authority  to  modify  and 
amend  them  ;  except,  that  it  should  not  have  power  to  control 


LEGISLATION   AND   THE   CRIMINAL.  137 

the  action  of  the  Prison  Board,  or  modify  or  change  its  rules, 
only,  when  sitting  as  a  court  it  judicially  finds  such  change 
necessary  on  the  ground  of  public  policy.  But  it  should  at 
any  time  recommend  such  change  as  it  may  deem  advisable. 
On  its  recommendation,  the  governor  should  be  required  to 
suspend  until  tried,  any  official  connected  with  any  institution, 
and  with  the  board  appoint  some  other  to  act  until  the 
vacancy  be  filled  with  the  old  or  a  new  incumbent.  It  should 
have  power  to  visit  and  inspect  private  charities,  when,  in  its 
opinion,  such  action  is  needed,  or  on  complaint  made  by  any 
competent  person  ;  and  when  necessary,  to  cause  issues  to  be 
made  and  tried,  as  to  any  institution,  and  make  orders  to  carry 
out  the  true  intent,  meaning  and  object  of  the  law  relating  to 
the  institutions  and  their  inmates.  Appeals  by  writ  of  error 
should  be  allowed  from  its  judicial  action  to  the  supreme 
court.  In  all  cases,  except  where  punishment  for  corruption 
in  office  is  contemplated,  it  should  proceed  summarily,  on 
notice  to  persons  to  be  affected.  In  cases  where  parties  would 
be  entitled  to  trial  by  jury,  it  should  certify  the  case  to  some 
court  having  general  jurisdiction,  and  see  that  the  case  is 
prosecuted.  With  such  a  body,  efficient  and  economical  man- 
agement would  be  likely  to  characterize  the  institutions,  and 
the  best  results  be  reached. 

The  Bertillon  System  for  the  identification  of  convicts  has 
been  sufficiently  tested  to  establish  it  as  of  great  value,  and 
legislation  for  its  adoption  should  be  made  efficient.  When 
legislation  shall  have  defined  public  offences,  provided  a  code 
of  procedure  excluding  technicality,  and  framed  to  elicit  the 
truth  as  completely  as  possible,  provided  for  the  commitment 
of  convicts  without  limit  as  to  time,  and  the  term  dependent 
entirely  on  their  becoming  fit  to  be  trusted  at  large,  providing 
a  progressive  system  of  prisons,  a  permanent  and  competent 
prison  board  with  authority  to  provide  for  prison  management 
and  conduct,  with  proper  limits  and  restraint  on  that  authority, 
but  leaving  details  to  it,  and  for  a  State  Board  of  Charities 
and  Correction  with  proper  supervisory  power,  and  finally,  for 
a  system  of  identification  of  convicts,  it  will  have  done  all  that 
is  possible.  Time  and  experience,  as  shown  in  the  reports  of 
officials,  will  indicate  the  necessary  modifications  and  changes 


138  THE    PRISON   QUESTION. 

requiring  further  legislative  action.  It  is  impracticable  for 
legislation  to  provide  for,  carry  into  practice  or  enforce  the 
details  necessary.  Any  attempt  to  do  so  must  result  in  iron- 
clad, inelastic  provisions,  that  cannot  be  adapted  to  the  ever 
changing  conditions  and  constantly  arising  emergencies,  and 
they  would  defeat  the  very  ends  intended  to  be  served.  That 
difficulty  now  hampers  reformatories  already  on  trial. 

There  is  another  matter  that  has  strongly  impressed  itself 
on  me,  and  I  will  refer  to  it.  The  matter  of  supplies  and  dis- 
position of  prison  products  should  be  a  distinct  department, 
and  be  established  under  direction  of  the  prison  board,  or  by 
direct  legislation.  The  requisition  for  supplies  should  be  made 
by  the  prison  authorities— the  warden  or  whoever  may  be 
designated  as  the  proper  party — and  the  agency  established 
for  that  purpose  should  furnish  them.  The  persons  who 
manage  the  prisons  should  never  be  burdened  with  or  be  called 
upon  to  go  into  the  markets  to  contract  for  and  furnish  sup- 
plies or  dispose  of  products.  It  would  be  equally  inconsistent 
as  it  would  be  with  an  army  regulation  requiring  the  major 
general  of  a  department  to  furnish  all  supplies  and  dispose  of 
all  property  to  be  sold.  The  same  agency  should  dispose  of 
all  prison  products.  They  should  be  turned  over  to  that 
agency  when  ready  for  market,  (all  such  as  are  made  for  the 
state,  I  mean),  and  the  warden  have  nothing  to  do  with  their 
disposition.  In  this  way  the  agency  can  be  placed  under  safe 
supervision,  and  the  most  advantageous  terms  can  be  secured ; 
while  the  prison  officials  will  be  left  free  to  devote  exclusive 
attention  to  the  work  in  their  charge,  which  is  of  a  character 
as  inconsistent  with  the  duties  of  such  an  agency,  as  that  of  a 
general  in  command  of  a  department  is  inconsistent  with  that 
of  a  quartermaster.  In  my  judgment,  proper  legislation 
should  be  had  in  relation  to  this  matter,  and  so  further  serve 
the  interests  of  the  state  to  the  best  advantage. 


CHAPTER  XI. 

CONVICTS   AND    GOVERNMENT. 

THE  convicts  for  crime  come  from  even-  social  level.  Rep- 
resentatives of  every  grade  of  intelligence  are  found 
among  them.  They  include  persons  without  one  redeeming 
trait  of  character,  those  with  "  a  single  virtue  linked  to  a  thou- 
sand crimes,"  and  those  with  many  virtues  linked  to  a  single 
crime.  Among  them  are  found  the  most  ignorant  and  the 
most  brutal  of  human  beings:  educated  and  intelligent  persons 
with  a  brutal  nature ;  persons  without  education  that  are  full 
of  kindness  and  good  humor,  subject  to  one  single  vicious  im- 
pulse ;  those  with  the  external  display  of  kindness  and  cour- 
tesy, but  with  a  soul  full  of  malice  and  devoid  of  pity ;  those 
with  an  irritable  nervousness,  that  are  lost  to  reason  when 
greatly  aggravated,  and  they  rush  blindly'toward  the  gratifica- 
tion of  the  leading  impulse  without  reflection,  or  thought,  or 
intention,  guided  by  mere  animal  instinct  inflamed  by  over- 
powering passion ;  those  with  no  criminal  mentality,  but  sub- 
ject to  mental  influences  that  compel  them  to  reason  in  the 
direction  of  what  they  do,  and  to  believe  they  have  the  right 
to  do  it,  that  everything  that  forbids  it  is  wrong,  and  it  is  a 
right  they  have  to  defeat  the  wrong  in  any  way  they  can. 
There  are  those  with  no  actual  vicious  tendencies  who  lack 
moral  perception  and  are  ignorant,  and  through  both  causes 
become  offenders.  There  are  those  who  are  so  constituted 
that  they  are  as  if  insane ;  cannot  control  their  impulses  and 
with  full  knowledge  yield  to  them.  I  may  forcibly  illustrate 
this  by  the  statement  of  a  fact.  A  noted  professor  lectured  on 
phrenology  before  a  large  and  intelligent  audience  in  one  of 
our  largest  cities.  He  permitted  himself  to  be  blindfolded, 
and  then,  well  known  persons — strangers  to  him — were  selected 
from  the  audience  for  him  to  examine  while  blindfolded,  that 
they  might  judge  of  the  truth  of  his  theory.  After  some  ex- 


140  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

aminations  had  been  concluded,  a  fine,  intelligent  looking,  well- 
dressed  man,  followed  closely  by  another,  walked  upon  the 
platform  and  said,  "  I  have  no  faith  in  your  science,  but  I 
would  like  to  have  you  examine  me,  and  if  you  can  tell  the 
truth  about  me  I  shall  become  a  convert.  I  wish  you  to  tell 
all  you  think  you  find  developed."  The  professor  proceeded 
and  disclosed  a  finely  developed  brain  as  far  as  he  went.  He 
assumed  from  appearances  that  the  subject  was  educated ;  if 
so,  he  possessed  rare  ability ;  and  he  gave  some  specific  in- 
stances of  development  and  combinations,  but  did  not  go  into 
much  detail.  When  through,  the  gentleman  said,  "  Have  you 
told  all  you  can  find  there?  If  not,  tell  all  you  find.  I  want 
to  know  it  all  as  far  as  you  can  discover."  The  professor  said, 
"  No.  I  can  tell  more.  If  you  desire  me  to  tell  more  thus 
publicly  I  can  tell  it,"  and  he  seemed  somewhat  excited.  The 
gentleman  said,  "  Go  on,  tell  all  you  think  is  shown."  The 
professor  said,  "  I  know  nothing  about  you,  sir.  I  know  what 
your  brain  development  shows.  You  may  be  an  honest,  up- 
right man,  but  your  brain  combinations  show  you  to  be  in- 
stinctively a  thief  and  with  the  ability  to  make  a  very  success- 
ful one."  Without  waiting  for  more  the  gentleman  arose  and 
said,  "  I  am  converted.  That  is  just  what  I  am.  I  am  well 
born  and  bred  and  have  ample  means.  I  am  well  educated. 
I  can  gratify  every  desire  in  every  way ;  but  I  can  no  more 
avoid  stealing  than  I  can  breathing.  It  makes  no  difference 
what  it  may  be — a  pair  of  baby's  shoes,  a  diamond,  or  any- 
thing else  that  can  be  taken — I  must  take  it  if  the  chance  oc- 
curs, and  I  have  no  power  to  resist  the  impulse.  I  am  well 
connected  and  my  family  is  well  known.  This  man"  (point- 
ing to  the  one  who  had  followed  him)  "  is  a  guardian  and  I  am 
never  out  of  sight  of  one,  and  never  have  been  since  it  became 
settled  that  I  am  thus  affected.  I  am  not  known  to  any  one 
here,  but  this  is  the  truth,  and  I  now  believe  that  phrenology 
has  a  scientific  basis."  And  he  left  the  platform. 

There  are  untold  thousands  of  not  only  these  so-called  klep- 
tomaniacs, but  those  subject  to  irresistible  impulses  in  other 
directions:  notably  a  desire  to  fire  buildings,  destroy  property, 
and  take  life.  I  was  close  by  an  exhibition  of  the  murderous 
impulse  on  one  occasion.  The  victim  of  the  impulse,  in  the 


CONVICTS   AND   GOVERNMENT.  14! 

presence  of  several,  was  sitting  on  a  table  in  a  public  room.  A 
man  came  in  whom  he  knew  well  and  with  whom  he  was  on 
friendly  terms.  He  drew  a  pistol  and  said,  "  Jake,  I  have  a 
notion  to  shoot  you."  The  other,  having  no  idea  he  meant  it, 
said,  "What  do  you  want  to  shoot  me  for?"  He  went  on  do- 
ing the  errand  he  came  for  and  laughingly  said,  "  You  wouldn't 
kill  a  fly."  The  other  said,  "  I'll  give  you  one  any  how,"  and  he 
fired,  killing  the  man.  He  left  the  table,  backed  to  the  door* 
pointing  his  pistol  at  the  others  who  started  toward  him,  and 
threatening  to  shoot,  and  escaped  up  an  alley.  It  all  transpired 
in  two  or  three  miuntes,  and  there  was  nothing  at  any  time  to 
give  rise  to  anything  that  could  in  any  way  lead  to  such  an  act 
except  a  mere  insane  impulse  to  take  life.  The  murderer  bore 
an  unsavory  reputation,  but  no  one  had  any  idea  of  any  dispo- 
sition in  him  to  murder. 

There  are  others  who  have  no  criminal  tendencies,  but  will 
stop  at  nothing  in  efforts  to  have  revenge  for  some  real  or 
fancied  injury;  and  yet  are  entirely  free  from  criminal  impulse 
in  all  other  directions.  Others  have  no  tendency  to  crime  but 
have  a  desire  for  mischief;  and  when  started  on  some  mis- 
chievousness,  perhaps  comparatively  innocent,  with  no  intent 
to  do  real  harm,  it  seems  to  rouse  and  feed  a  desire — until 
then  latent — to  go  further;  and  a  disposition  to  destroy  be- 
comes active.  Gratification  in  some  cases  seems  to  beget  a 
frenzy  that  drives  them  to  extreme  acts,  with  no  power  to 
resist.  Others  become  involuntary  criminals ;  opening  a  door 
without  any  evil  intention  and  in  time  finding  it  impossible  to 
close  it — such  as  using  a  small  portion  of  money  intrusted  to 
their  care  temporarily,  feeling  sure  of  the  ability  and  with  the 
intention  of  replacing  it,  but  from  some  cause  being  unable, 
resort  to  temporary  concealment  until  they  can  replace  it. 
Being  still  unable,  they  are  detected  with  only  the  one  mis- 
step. Others  go  on  taking  more,  still  intending  to  make  it 
good;  but  become  unable  to  do  so,  abscond  and.  so  become 
fugitives.  The  door  once  open,  with  dishonor  pursuing,  with 
no  natural  criminal  tendencies,  from  necessity  they  become 
criminals,  seeing  no  other  way  open  to  live.  Others  in  places 
of  trust,  with  no  tendencies  to  crime,  are  persuaded  to  accom- 
modate friends  with  temporary  loans  from  moneys  in  their 


142  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

care,  which  are  not  repaid  and  they  are  found  in  default  and 
convicted  of  embezzlement.  Still  others  in  like  position, 
driven  by  great  and  pressing  want — the  necessities  of  a  sick 
family,  perhaps— take  a  little,  intending  to  replace  it  before  it 
can  be  missed,  open  a  door  that  growing  necessities  prevent 
them  from  closing  until  detection  ensues;  and  while  not 
criminals  they  become  convicts  as  embezzlers.  Others,  again, 
are  easily  misled;  are  deceived  and  used  by  sharpers  as  tools; 
and  left  in  such  a  position  as  to  become  liable  to  charge  and 
conviction,  when  they  are  free  from  any  voluntary  intention  to 
commit  crime.  Others  become  involuntary  criminals  by  doing 
something  they  thought  they  had  a  right  to  do  and  overstep 
the  legal  limits,  which  they  would  not  have  done  had  they 
known  it  was  illegal.  Still  others  are  made  criminals  by 
education  and  environment,  with  no  natural  tendency  to  crime. 
There  is  a  very  large  number  who  are  either  born  with  a  crimi- 
nal mentality,  or  fall  into  channels  when  young  that  create 
one,  and  their  normal  condition  is  that  of  offenders  and  their 
practices  consist  in  the  commission  of  crimes.  Some  progress 
to  a  certain  limit  within  the  line  of  petty  offenses  and  never 
beyond.  Others  cross  that  line  and  stop  at  the  lower  grade  of 
felonies.  Others  still,  progress  throughout  the  scale  to  the 
highest  order  of  offences,  and  when  they  start  in  to  commit  a 
lesser  crime  expect  to  commit  murder,  if  necessary,  to  escape 
detection  or  capture.  Others,  again,  start  high  and  never 
descend  to  lesser  offences,  and  follow  it  with  success  and 
profit. 

There  are  more  criminals  outside  the  world  of  convicts  than 
there  are  in  it,  many  times  over ;  and  in  both  worlds  may  be 
found  every  grade  of  mentality,  temper  and  disposition  that 
can  be  found  throughout  society.  Among  the  convicts  are 
some  entirely  innocent  persons ;  others  who  ought  not  to 
have  been  convicted  though  in  the  position  of  offenders ;  and 
when  we  come  ,to  take  a  prison  full  of  convicts,  what  to  do 
with  them  to  do  justice  to  each  one  and  to  the  public,  becomes 
a  problem  that  requires  a  Divine  mind  to  solve.  Finite  man 
can  only  partially  solve  it,  and  bring  to  bear  his  best  judgment 
in  dealing  with  such  results  as  he  can  comprehend. 

There    is    something    unexplainable  about   the   impressions 


CONVICT   AND    GOVERNMENT.  143 

made  upon  the  public  mind  by  the  commission  of  different 
kinds  of  crime.  There  is  a  vindictiveness  and  bitterness  that 
knows  no  kind  of  softening  against  horse-stealing.  Not  even 
the  ravisher  of  women  is  regarded  with  such  contempt  and 
feelings  for  revenge  as  is  the  horse-thief.  The  successful 
purloiner  of  many  thousands  and  the  successful  forger  for  large 
sums,  is  regarded  by  many  with  a  feeling  akin  to  admiration; 
while  the  chicken-thief,  the  hog-thief,  and  the  pickpocket 
creates  a  feeling  that  he  ought  to  be  tortured  and  then  killed 
to  get  rid  of  him.  The  bank  president  and  cashier  who  de- 
liberately wreck  a  bank  and  knowingly  swindle  depositors  and 
others  out  of  thousands,  are  rarely  looked  upon  with  vindictive- 
ness,  and  not  unfrequently  find  many  who  are  sorry  for  them  ; 
while  the  fire-bug,  the  robber  or  the  burglar  who  may  do  injury 
to  but  a  small  amount,  stimulates  a  feeling  in  favor  of  calling 
Judge  Lynch  to  the  bench  and  removing  the  offender  under  his 
order. 

When  a  person  is  charged  with  crime  there  is  a  disposition 
to  look  for  the  marks  of  a  criminal  'in  his  appearance  and  in  all 
he  does  and  says  ;  everything  is  seen  through  the  medium  of 
suspicion  and  construed  on  the  theory  of  guilt.  None  ever 
think  of  looking  for  signs  of  integrity  or  innocence  in  his  ap- 
pearance and  actions,  arid  the  victim  lies  under  this  incubus  if 
innocent,  from  his  arrest  until  he  lands,  in  prison  if  convicted- — 
to  which  result  the  mental  condition  of  the  public  strongly 
aids. 

Whatever  may  be  the  character  of  the  convict,  when  once 
in  prison  he  becomes  the  ward,  servant  and  apprentice  of  the 
state,  as  I  have  sought  to  show  in  the  chapter  on  government 
and  the  criminal;  and  these  certain  relations  that  grow  out  of 
the  conditions  bring  into  operation  natural  forces  that  should  be 
recognized  and  regarded.  Under  the  law  in  most  of  the  states 
the  convict  is  subjected  to  a  specific  penalty — committed  for  a 
definite  term— and  he  is  considered  as  under  the  ban  of  the 
state  until  the  penalty  has  been  suffered,  when  he  will  be  re- 
leased, whether  he  is  better  or  worse  for  the  state's  action. 
Certain  limitations,  restrictions,  and  presumptions  i'n  his  favor, 
provided  for  by  law,  put  both  the  convict  and  his  keepers  in 
a  position  that  antagonizes  the  operation  of  the  natural  forces 


144  THE   PRISON    QUESTION. 

arising  from  the  conditions,  and  in  effect  hinders,  or  entirely 
prevents  the  accomplishment  of  the  results  contemplated  in 
the  law.  In  the  light  of  some  of  the  principles  asserted  in  the 
foregoing  chapters  I  desire  to  look  at  these  relations. 

When  an  offence  is  committed  the  prevailing  idea  is  to 
catch  the  offender  and  punish  him.  That  is  an  erroneous  per- 
ception of  the  relations  between  the  offender  and  the  public. 
The  true  idea  is— and  should  be  understood  so — to  remove  the 
offender  from  society  because  he  is  a  disturbing  element. 
When  he  is  arrested  the  state  has  him  in  custody  for  that  rea- 
son and  no  other;  and  in  the  discharge  of  one  of  the  duties 
and  purposes  of  government— that  of  protecting  persons  and 
property  by  preserving  public  order — it  arrests  and  holds  him. 
The  implied  contract  between  every  responsible  person  and 
the  state — and  between  the  parent  or  guardian  of  every  irres- 
ponsible person  and  the  state — is,  that  the  person  shall  keep 
the  peace  and  bear  a  portion  of  the  expense  of  government,  in. 
return  for  personal  liberty  and  protection  for  person  and  pro- 
perty in  the  enjoyment  of  that  liberty.  The  implied  contract 
between  society  and  government  is,  that  every  irresponsible 
person  shall  have  a  guardian  who  will  be  a  competent  party  to 
the  contract.  When  the  person  breaks  the  peace  he  violates 
the  contract,  forfeits  the  right  to  liberty,  and  endangers  the 
persons  in  society,  and  property,  and  government  must  perform 
its  contract  with  them  by  depriving  the  offender  of  his  liberty, 
and  putting  it  out  of  his  power  to  make  further  breach  of  his 
contract.  Should  government  not  do  so,  itself  would  be  guilty 
of  a  breach  of  contract  with  every  person  who  could  be  unfa- 
vorably affected  by  the  act  of  the  offender.  This  includes  every 
relation  between  the  inhabitant  and  government  up  to  this 
point,  in  this  connection. 

In  performance  of  its  obligation,  government  seizes  the  of- 
fender, deprives  him  of  the  liberty  he  has  voluntarily  forfeited, 
fastens  the  offence  on  him  by  trial  and  judgment,  and  new  re- 
lations at  once  come  into  existence,  and  new  forces  begin  to 
operate.  The  stability  and  well-being  of  society  are  wholly  de- 
pendent on  the  practical  intelligence  and  moral  perception  and 
conduct  of  its  members.  Here  is  one  who,  no  matter  what  his 
intelligence  and  moral  perceptions  are,  has  so  used  his  oppor- 


CONVICT   AND   GOVERNMENT.  145 

tunities  as  to  end  in  conduct  that  is  not  moral,  and  he  has  been 
removed  from  society.  But  one  of  two  things  can  be  rightly 
done  with  him  :  either  extirpate  him,  or  make  him  of  use  to 
the  state  for  the  benefit  of  the  public  he  has  injured,  and  keep 
him  from  doing  more  harm.  The  right  of  the  government  to 
extirpate  him  is  a  questionable  right.  It  has  established  or  per- 
mitted the  social  conditions  under  which  he  came  here  and 
reached  his  present  status,  and  so  has  sanctioned  his  coming. 
It  took  the  chances  as  to  what  he  would  be,  and  natural  forces 
growing  out  of  the  conditions  have  made  the  implied  contract 
between  him  and  government.  He  has  broken  the  contract, 
but  that  hardly  authorizes  government  to  destroy  him.  If 
government  has  that  right,  it  is  a  right  without  limit  and  ex- 
tends with  equal  force  to  every  relation  that  can  produce  a 
dangerous  or  disturbing  element.  If  government  can  now  seize 
and  destroy  him  because  he  breaks  the  peace  by  committing 
murder,  it  can  seize  and  destroy  any  one  who  must — in  the  na- 
ture of  things — become  a  disturber  of  the  peace.  If  it  may 
seize,  search,  examine  and  try  one  on  a  charge  of  crime,  put 
him  away  and  keep  him,  or  take  his  life,  much  more  may  it 
seize,  search,  examine,  try,  and  put  away  one  who  may  become 
the  progenitor  of  a  race  of  criminals,  or  of  other  deformities, 
to  become  a  public  burden,  and  in  any  manner  put  it  out  of 
their  power  to  become  not  only  perpetual  disturbers  of  the 
peace,  but  vicious  contaminators  of  society,  and  breeders  of 
ignorance,  of  immoral  perception  and  immoral  conduct,  instead 
of  practical  intelligence,  with  moral  perception  and  conduct. 
When  government  assumes  the  right  to  take  the  life  of  offend- 
ers in  order  to  keep  and  perform  its  contract  with  the  people 
to  preserve  the  peace,  and  protect  each  in  liberty  of  person  and 
rights  of  property,  then,  logically  and  rightly,  the  power  ex- 
tends to  the  full  limit,  and  it  becomes  the  duty  of  government 
to  prevent  the  coming  and  maturing  of  criminal  mentalities,  in 
all  cases  where  it  can  and  probably  will  result  from  existing 
conditions  and  customs.  It  is  a  glaring  inconsistency  to  up- 
hold customs  that  produce  criminals  certainly,  to  provide  for 
them  until  they  commit  crime  in  obedience  to  natural  and 
hereditary  impulse,  and  then  deprive  them  of  life.  But  if  gov- 
ernment exerts  itself  to  prevent  such  customs,  then  it  may  con-* 


146  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

sistently  take  life  when  a  criminal  mentality  comes  in  spite  of 
government's  prohibitions.  Therefore,  I  repeat  that,  under 
the  customs  now  upheld  by  government,  it  is  questionable  if  it 
has  the  right  to  take  life.  See  the  chapters  on  mentality  and 
marriage. 

Assuming  that  extirpation  is  not  to  follow  judgment,  it  be- 
comes the  duty  of  government  to  make  careful  examination 
and  ascertain  what  it  has  seized  and  removed  from  society.  It 
can  take  no  step  in  advance  of  this  one  without  plunging  into 
false  positions  and  producing  conditions  that  are  inimical  to 
true  relations  between  it  and  the  convict ;  for  its  future  rela- 
tions, if  justice  is  to  be  considered,  if  "the  principle  of  reforma- 
tion "  is  to  be  the  rule  of  action  as  is  required  by  the  constitu- 
tional mandate  —  will  be  such  that  government  must  know 
what  kind  of  a  subject  it  has  got  to  deal  with.  What  is  the 
mental  timbre  as  well  as  caliber  of  the  convict  in  all  ways ; 
what  has  been  the  education  and  environment  that  has  made 
it  what  it  is  ;  to  what  extent  it  is  impressible  and  what  means 
will  best  and  soonest  impress  it ;  to  what  extent  is  reformation 
possible  or  probable,  and  what  environment  and  daily  usages 
will  soonest  effect  reform?  Examination  to  discover  as  much 
of  this  as  possible  should  be  made  and  reasonable  time  be 
given  to  it — a  day,  a  week,  a  month,  as  may  be  necessary  -r 
and  by  any  and  all  methods  that  may  be  available. 

The  convict  now  becomes  the  apprentice  as  well  as  the  ward 
of  government.  The  obligations  of  both  guardian  and  master 
attach  to  the  state,  and  those  of  servant  and  ward  attach  to 
the  convict.  While  the  state  in  discharge  of  its  duties  as 
guardian  cares  for  his  bodily  comfort  and  , shelter  and  protects 
him,  as  his  master  it  tries  to  teach  him  how  to  become  a  true 
and  orderly  citizen  as  well  as  a  useful  and  practical  artisan. 
While  it  gives  him  the  best  of  hygiene  for  his  corporal  well-being, 
it  makes  the  best  use  it  can  of  mental  pathology,  and  tries  to 
create  and  establish  a  well-balanced  mentality  with  clear  moral 
perceptions  and  good  impulses. 

If  government  can  succeed  in  this — if  it  can  make  the  con- 
vict clearly  comprehend  the  relations  between- government  and 
the  citizen,  and  understand  the  terms  of  his  contract  with 
government,  and  endow  him  with  a  will  and  a  firmness  to  per- 


CONVICT   AND   GOVERNMENT.  147 

form  it  on  his  part,  a  new  relation  obtains.  It  is  that  of  gov- 
ernment and  the  reformed  convict,  and  it  is  the  duty  of 
government  to  restore  him  to  liberty,  and  make  some  provision 
for  him  to  start  on  a  career  of  self-support.  But  having 
broken  the  contract  once,  government  may  attach  conditions 
to  his  restoration  to  liberty,  such  as  it  thinks  will  best  hold  him 
to  the  observance  of  the  contract.  These  it  may  gradually 
remove ;  or  if  he  lapses  into  wrong  again,  remove  him  and 
send  him  forward  among  the  unreformables. 

As  a  part  of  every  prison  system  there  should  be  provisions 
made  for  aiding  discharged  convicts  to  get  started  in  a  way  to 
live;  perhaps  by  wages  after  reformed  for  a  period  before  dis- 
charge and  then  assistance  to  employment  outside  for  a 
period,  or  in  some  other  way.  It  is  as  clearly  the  duty  of  the 
state  to  provide  for  a  convict  it  discharges,  as  it  is  to  provide 
for  those  it  imprisons.  It  is  sending  him  out  on  trial.  It  has 
held  him  as  a  disturbing  element  and  left  him  no  chance  to 
provide  for  himself.  It  should  so  arrange  that  when  it  believes 
its  ward  can  be  trusted  at  large,  he  can  have  some  means  with 
which  to  begin  the  new  struggle  for  life,  when  he  has  none  of 
his  own.  There  is  an  argument  made  that,  the  convict  while  in 
custody  can  ask  nothing  at  the  hands  of  the  state  except  the 
bare  necessaries  of  life.  That  he  has  the  same  opportunities 
as  the  rest  of  the  people.  That  only  honesty,  industry  and 
close  economy,  if  he  be  poor,  will  enable  him  to  live  and  give 
him  the  law's  protection.  Those  who  do  that  are  the  ones  who 
must  contribute  to  the  support  of  government  and  to  the  sup- 
port of  those  who  do  not  do  it.  If  one  sees  proper  to  be  idle, 
unthrifty  and  dishonest,  he  can  have  no  right  to  demand  any- 
thing from  those  who  are  not  so.  If  unfortunate  in  any  way, 
either  from  lack  of  ability,  physical  or  mental,  to  make  a  liv- 
ing, he  can  avoid  crime,  and  in  that  case  the  public  must 
support  him.  But  if  he  commits  crime  he  should  forfeit  all 
rights,  be  made  to  labor  for  his  own  support  and  for  that  of 
his  class,  and  fare  no  better  than  is  necessary  to  give  him 
health  and  strength  to  work.  That  it  is  gross  injustice  to  tax 
honest  labor  to  support  rogues  either  any  better  than  the  com- 
monest of  honest  laborers  live,  or  at  all  in  idleness ;  and  it  has 
reason  in  it. 


148  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

It  requires  a  liberal  stretch  of  philanthropy  to  find  warrant 
for  taking  money  from  honest  labor  to  make  dishonest  idlers 
comfortable ;  teach  them  trades  ;  furnish  them  books,  papers 
and  teachers ;  find  them  labor  and  amusements ;  and  then 
give  them  means  to  start  in  life  after  doing  all  this,  be  it  little 
or  much ;  and  the  only  reason  for  it  all,  because  they  are 
dangerous  to  the  honest  laborer  and  his  property.  In  fact, 
there  is  no  philanthropy  in  it  at  all.  But  under  human  imper- 
fections in  social  conditions,  as  created  or  permitted  by  law, 
many  become  convicts  who  are  actual  offenders,  but  objects  of 
pity  as  being  more  unfortunate  than  wilful.  Others  are  inno- 
cent of  crime  and  the  victims  of  injustice  from  circumstances 
they  could  not  control.  These  it  is  right  to  care  for  and  aid. 
But  the  deliberate  and  wilful  offender,  with  intelligence  enough 
to  know  what  he  does,  should  forfeit  all  rights,  even  of  a 
return  to  society  on  any  conditions,  and  be  used  to  earn  what 
he  can  be  made  to  in  order  to  help  support  his  class  in  prison.. 
However,  having  been  confined  and  supported  by  taxes  levied 
on  the  orderly,  if  he  is  found  fit  to  go  back  to  liberty,  public 
policy,  regardless  of  the  matter  of  individual  right,  dictates 
that  some  aid  should  be  given  in  some  form  by  the  govern- 
ment ;  and  arrangements  should  be  made  as  a  provision  in 
the  prison  system,  to  aid  liberated  convicts  to  employment 
and  temporary  means  to  live. 

In  treating  of  punishment  and  prisons  I  shall  have  more  to 
offer  on  the  subject  of  convicts ;  in  which  I  shall  make  further 
application  of  the  principles  laid  down  in  the  preceding 
chapters. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

PUNISHMENT. 

STRICTLY  speaking,  punishment  is  pain,  inflicted  as  a 
penalty  for  the  commission  of  a  wrong.  The  object  is, 
to  deter  the  offender  from  a  repetition  of  offence,  and  if  pub- 
licly inflicted  to  deter  others  who  might  be  inclined  to  do 
wrong.  It  is  on  this  theory  that  the  state  through  its  criminal 
statutes  undertakes  to  inflict  punishment,  and  so  effect  refor- 
mation in  those  criminally  inclined.  That  punishment  by  the 
state  is  impractical  and  will  not  reform,  but  rather,  closes  the 
door  to  reform,  under  the  provisions  now  largely  existing  both 
as  to  criminal  procedure  and  determinate  sentences,  I  think  I 
will  be  able  to  demonstrate.  Then  I  will  try  to  show  how 
and  when  punishment  can  be  practically  resorted  to  and  for 
what  ends. 

Going  back  to  the  beginning,  in  order  that  we  may  have  a 
clear  comprehension  we  must  bring  forward  a  few  postulates 
from  the  principles  already  laid  down. 

Opinion  is  a  temporary  conclusion  formed  as  to  something 
brought  within  the  line  of  our  observation.  When  we  have 
satisfactory  evidence  to  sustain  that  opinion  it  becomes  belief. 
Our  opinions  and  beliefs  depend  upon  our  perceptions  and 
they  depend  on  our  mentality  and  environment.  No  man  can 
act  any  further  than  he  can  see — perceive — and  his  opinions 
and  beliefs  as  to  right  and  wrong  will  be  as  his  perceptions 
are.  A  man's  actions  will  be  prompted  by  impulses  begotten 
of  his  opinions.  "What  a  man  loves  that  he  wills  to  do,"  says 
Swedenborg.  We  cannot  reform  everybody,  and  the  rich 
and  wise  will  rule  the  poor  and  ignorant,  while  the  poor  and 
ignorant  will  envy  or  hate  the  rich  and  wise.  Ignorance  and 
wealth  we  find  united,  as  well  as  wisdom  and  poverty.  Keep- 
ing ignorant  wealth  instead  of  intelligent  poverty  in  the 
ascendency  as  consistent  with  morals,  justice  and  public  good, 


150  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

is  maintained  by  society,  while  it   is  inconsistent  with  all  of 
them. 

The  prevailing  theory  is,  that  punishment  must  be  based  on 
the  idea  of,  and  be  inflicted  with  a  view  to,  moral  reformation ; 
and  it  presents  the  question — can  any  system  of  punishment 
for  public  wrongs  be  conceived  or  established  on  any  such 
basis  ?  The  standards  of  right  and  wrong  being  arbitrary  and 
temporary  presents  the  first  difficulty.  A  portion  of  com- 
munity erect  conscience  as  a  standard  and  rely  upon  it  as  a 
supernatural  perception  in  each  person.  It  has  no  influence 
on  such  as  do  not  believe  it,  because  they  do  not  perceive  the 
facts  that  lead  .to  it.  The  greater  number  neither  recognize 
nor  adhere  to  this  supernatural  standard.  We  are  forced  back 
continually  upon  the  truth  that,  a  man's  opinions  will  govern 
his  actions,  and  his  opinions  depend  on  his  mentality  as  made 
by  congenital  organization  and  subsequent  impressions. 

Keeping  before  us  the  social  conditions  of  men  as  they  are,, 
the  necessity  for  public  order,  the  fact  that  no  two  opinions 
can  be  exactly  alike,  and  the  opinion  of  each  is  dependent  on 
his  mentality,  a  proposition  to  effect  reform  by  a  fixed  system 
of  punishment  is  an  absurdity.  The  main  thing  presented  by 
punishment  is  fear.  The  design  is,  to  make  the  delinquent 
afraid  of  punishment — not  afraid  to  offend.  It  is  a  fact  that, 
fear  will  not  operate  as  a  restraint  unless  the  danger  feared  is 
present  or  palpably  close,  and  certain.  Indirectly,  statutory 
penalties  create  a  sort  of  fear  that  restrains  men  who  are  not 
naturally  disposed  to  vice,  from  committing  crime  when 
tempted  and  temporarily  contemplated ;  but  to  a  mind  so 
organized  that  there  is  a  tendency  to  crime,  or  one  so  educated 
by  environment  as  to  think  he  has  a  right  to  plunder  the  rich 
and  prosperous  or  coerce  those  who  differ  from  him  in  opinion 
or  belief,  the  penalty  does  not  restrain  by  fear;  but  operates 
to  make  the  party  more  cautious,  and  causes  him  to  exert  his 
faculties  in  the  commission  of  other  crimes,  the  better  to  cir- 
cumvent the  law  and  make  his  chance  for  success  more  certain. 
It  is  not  fear  for  or  regard  to  the  punishment  that  dffects  him, 
but  the  desire  to  not  fail  and  be  defeated  in  his  attempt  to 
make  gain  or  accomplish  his  purposes. 

This  disregard  of  and  contempt  for  penalties,  is  a  natural 


PUNISHMENT.  !$! 

result  of  fixed  penalties  for  offences  regardless  of  the  indi- 
vidual or  the  facts,  as  well  as  the  uncertainty  of  the  punish- 
ment. If  the  penalty  could  be  so  provided  as  to  be  graded  to 
the  individual  and  the  facts  in  each  case,  and  the  question  of 
reform  be  left  out  of  sight — except  so  far  as  the  place,  man- 
ner and  surroundings  attending  the  punishment  might  operate 
to  influence  the  offender — the  indifference  and  contempt  with 
which  the  criminally  inclined  now  view  the  fixed  penalties  as 
a  means  for  moral  reformation,  would  be  much  less  than  it  is 
now. 

When  one  violates  the  law  who  does  not  know  the  law,  he 
cannot  be  readily  made  to  understand  that  he  is  morally  wrong; 
but  an  ignorant  violation  in  the  effect  on  others  and  on  the 
objects  of  the  law,  is  the  same  as  a  wilful  violation.  Punish- 
ment follows  violations  of  natural  laws,  whether  violated  pur- 
posely or  ignorantly.  The  idiot  who  thrusts  his  hand  into  the 
fire  is  burned  the  same  as  he  would  be  if  he  knew  the  fire 
would  burn  it  and  thrust  it  in  purposely.  So  with  the  civil 
law;  the  evil  to  society  follows  and  operates  to  the  injury  of 
the  innocent,  whether  the  law  be  violated  through  ignorance 
or  design.  In  either  case  the  public  order  is  disturbed  and 
repetition  is  to  be  prevented  by  punishment.  The  law  allows 
no  plea  of  ignorance.  Its  penalties  are  fixed  and  its  standard 
arbitrary.  But  the  standard  may  be  changed  next  month,  or 
next  year,  or  it  may  remain  in  force  and  be  a  dead  letter  by 
reason  of  a  change  in  the  public  opinion. 

If  we  are  to  afford  protection  by  the  infliction  of  penalties 
on  offenders,  it  would  be  cruelty  to  inflict  pain  on  the  ignorant 
violator  of  law,  and  it  would  be  absurd  to  do  so  as  punishment 
when  there  was  no  moral  guilt ;  and  doubly  absurd  to  do  so 
with  a  view  to  reformation,  there  having  been  no  intentional 
departure  from  obedience  to  offence,  the  offender  not  knowing 
his  act  was  unlawful.  In  case  of  the  wilful  offender,  the  pun- 
ishment must  be  to  impress  on  the  culprit  a  consciousness  of 
the  power  of  the  law,  the  will  of  those  who  observe  it,  the  ab- 
solute necessity  for  obedience  if  the  offender  desires  to  have 
liberty  and  the  exercise  of  individual  rights.  If  reformation 
comes,  it  comes  from  like  motives  to  those  that  prompted  the 
crime — personal  gain  ;  because  he  thinks  it  will  be  a  personal 


152  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

gain  to  obey  instead  of  infringing  the  law ;  whether  better  per- 
ceptions and  more  wisdom  enable  him  to  see  it,  or  whether 
mere  selfishness  induces  him  to  obey  the  law,  aside  from  moral 
improvement.  The  wilful  violator  of  law  will  reform  under 
punishment  if  he  is  so  constituted  as  to  comprehend  and  be- 
lieve that  it  will  be  best  to  obey  the  law  thereafter  and  he  de- 
sires the  best.  Unless  he  is  so  constituted  and  does  desire  the 
best,  moral  reformation  cannot  be  reached  by  punishment. 
There  may  be  some  elements  in  him  that  can  be  found  and 
through  which  a  reformation  can  be  effected,  but  unless  they 
be  found  moral  reformation  will  not  follow  punishment,  how- 
ever inflicted. 

Take  the  boy  begotten  and  reared  in  the  slums  of  the  city, 
of  ignorant,  vicious  parentage,  bred  amid  vice,  grown  to  man- 
hood without  scholastic  education,  and  his  associations  contin- 
ually evil.  He  sees  evidences  of  culture,  business,  and  comfort, 
all  around  him  ;  but  between  him  and  the  intelligent,  refined  and 
prosperous,  there  is  an  impassable  gulf.  His  thoughts  even 
cannot  pass  it,  for  he  has  no  personal  knowledge  of  the  other 
side.  As  to  all  that,  it  is  in  a  foreign  land  where  he  knows 
neither  the  language  nor  the  customs.  Of  constitutions,  legisla- 
tures, laws,  courts,  trade!,  commerce,  finance,  the  arts,  morality, 
dignity,  honor,  he  knows  little  or  nothing.  To  him,  a  court 
and  a  prison  are  things  to  be  avoided  because  they  deprive  him 
of  the  power  to  exercise  his  will.  To  him,  the  wise  and  pros- 
perous are  made  so  by  plundering  others,  and  it  is  just  to  rob 
them  in  any  way  he  can.  Right  and  wrong  to  him  have  a 
signification  entirely  at  variance  with  the  commonly  received 
construction.  Tell  him  how  a  law  is  made  and  what  for,  and 
read  it  to  him,  and  his  understanding  of  it  would  be  nothing 
like  that  intended  to  be  conveyed  to  him.  He  would  be  like 
the  Indian  who  was  being  taught  to  read  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment in  his  own  language  and  translate  into  English,  and  was 
given  the  parable  of  the  prodigal  son  and  it  was  explained  to 
him  in  its  allegorical  sense.  This  was  his  translation:  "Old 
man — heap  money — two  boys.  One  boy  no  wait.  Take  heap 
money — go  away.  Have  big  drunk — money  all  gone — go 
home.  Old  man  glad — make  music — eat  heap."  That  was  all. 
Not  the  slightest  perception  of  the  lesson  sought  to  be  con- 


PUNISHMENT.  153 

veyed  by  the  parable,  nor  was  his  mind  capable  of  compre- 
hending it,  however  presented.  Take  this  boy  I  have  described 
and  put  him  on  trial  for  crime.  He  has  violated  the  statute 
and  must  be  punished.  But  the  punishment  will  not  educate 
him  nor  restrain  morally,  nor  reform  him.  It  will  only  make 
him  more  wary  and  dangerous. 

Take  another  from  the  same  element,  of  different  make-up. 
He  has  quick  perceptions,  firmness,  caution,  secretiveness,  and 
is  ambitious  to  be  rich,  but  has  no  moral  or  reverential  ele- 
ments. He  acquires  some  school  education  and  begins  to 
look  out  for  property.  He  may  become  an  accomplished  bur- 
glar, or  forger,  or  may  head  some  business  and  become  an  ac- 
complished villain  under  broadcloth  and  fine  linen.  He  knows 
the  law  and  violates  it  knowingly ;  trusting  partly  to  chance, 
partly  to  his  own  ability  to  escape ;  but  driven  on  by  his  pecu- 
liar mental  composition  to  the  end  he  finally  reaches.  He  is 
dangerous  to  the  public  order  and  must  be  punished.  He  fears 
punishment  only  as  an  interruption  ;  a  closing  of  the  door  to 
further  gain.  If  any  moral  considerations  are  active,  it  is  be- 
cause they  affect  his  pride  and  his  lessened  chances  of  return 
to  his  position  where  he  can  accumulate.  No  feelings  of  honor 
are  wounded.  No  sense  of  degradation  because  he  has  done 
that  which  was  wrong  in  itself,  however  considered,  in  a  worldly 
sense  or  in  a  religious  light.  Statutory  punishment  to  him 
will  not  reform  him.  The  material  to  build  on  never  existed 
and  cannot  be  created  by  punishment.  At  the  end  of  the  pun- 
ishment he  will  go  into  a  grade  lower,  where  his  abilities  will 
be  used  to  obtain  a  position  as  a  leader  in  a  grosser  grade  of 
offences,  and  he  will  become  all  the  more  dangerous. 

Take  another  class — the  brutal.  The  animals,  on  which 
brute  force  alone  makes  impression.  The  class  that  will  drown 
in  the  pump  room,  and  will  yield  only  to  the  whip  or  the  rack. 
Crime  is  the  natural  and  only  outlet  for  such  energy  as  they 
possess.  Reform  is  impossible.  They  have  no  lot  or  part  in 
life  but  to  prey  on  mankind  and  disregard  all  law.  Of  right 
and  wrong  they  have  no  practical  perception.  They  must  be 
restrained,  but  statutory  punishment  is  lost  on  them.  Physical 
punishment  operates  not  to  reform,  and  only  so  far  as  fear  of 
torture  shall  keep  them  in  order  while  in  prison. 


154  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

Take  another — the  semi-intelligent  and  weak-minded.  The 
half-made  intellect,  and  yet  no  fool,  with  certain  shrewdness 
and  quick  perception  in  some  directions;  ability  to  reason  well 
on  some  things  to  a  limited  extent.  With  firmness  and  a  few 
other  elements  he  would  be  good  and  useful,  though  not  bright ; 
but  as  he  is,  can  be  easily  led  and  has  no  real  perception  of 
vice  or  the  true  relation  of  right  and  wrong  as  commonly 
understood.  He  is  found  and  used  by  criminals.  He  follows 
and  obeys  them  and  does  as  directed,  exercising  his  faculties 
under  command.  Should  fortune  cast  him  among  the  wise 
and  honorable,  he  drops  into  his  rut  of  subordination  and  ex- 
ercises his  faculties  there  under  command.  Detect  him  in 
crime  and  statutory  punishment  would  not  reform  him  ;  once 
free,  he  would  fall  under  influences  chance  might  throw 
around  him  and  become  the  willing  tool  of  those  who  could 
mislead. 

Last,  take  those  born  and  reared  under  favorable  circum- 
stances, but  so  organized  as  to  possess  criminal  tendencies,  ox 
that  lead  to  recklessness  as  to  right  and  wrong,  and  that 
education  has  failed  to  eradicate.  They  will  be  likely  to  drift 
into  the  channels  of  offence  and  become  amenable  to  the  law. 
But  restraint  and  punishment,  as  now  most  largely  practised 
under  statutory  penalties,  with  their  association  have  no  reli- 
able elements  that  lead  to  reform. 

From  these  classes  come  most  of  the  criminals.  And  in  all 
instances  they  are  the  victims  of  a  state  of  relations  and  facts 
for  which  they  are  not  responsible.  They  are  the  results  of 
causes,  over  which  causes  they  had  little  or  no  control.  Had 
these  different  persons  been  taken  when  young  and  been  de- 
veloped under  favorable  training  and  surroundings,  while  con- 
genital evils  might  not  have  been  eradicated,  they  would  have 
been,  probably,  placed  in  a  position  where  they  would  have 
been  comparatively  harmless.  But  having  been  developed  as 
they  are,  reform  is  out  of  the  question  by  any  statutory  pen- 
alties inflicted  as  punishment.  As  I  have  sought  to  show  in 
previous  chapters,  the  origin  of  the  evil  to  be  dealt  with  lies 
in  the  unlimited  and  unrestrained  sexual  license  sanctioned  by 
legal  marriage,  and  mere  animal  propagation.  Trying  to  re- 
form the  issue  by  statutory  penalties  is  like  trying  to  make  a 


PUNISHMENT.  155 

leaky  steam  engine  work  reliably  when  supplied  from  a  boiler 
filled  with  dirty,  greasy  water. 

The  secret  of  prohibition  of  crime  lies  first,  in  an  education, 
producing  mental  balance,  and  the  proper  location  of  persons 
when  so  educated  as  well  as  during  education ;  and  second,  in 
perpetual  restraint  where  education  fails  to  establish  a  mental 
balance. 

A  formidable  difficulty  to  be  contended  with  lies  in  the 
fact  that,  with  the  evil-minded  and  ignorant,  liberty  is  used 
as  if  it  were  unlimited  license — construing  liberty  to  mean 
license.  Liberty  to  do  right  according  to  the  established 
standard  can  in  no  case  be  construed  to  do  other  than  right. 
I  have  discussed  education  for  restoration  or  creation  of  a 
mental  balance  in  the  chapters  referring  to  Mentality  and 
Mental  Pathology,  and  the  principles  there  laid  down  are  appli- 
cable to  convicts,  with  chances  for  reform  proportioned  to  the 
impressibility  of  the  individual  and  the  firmness  to  practice  the 
lessons  learned.  So  far  as  natural  defects  can  be  thus  supplied, 
so  far  will  prohibition  be  accomplished.  If  they  cannot  be 
supplied,  there  is  no  success,  the  individual  at  large  will  prey 
upon  his  fellows,  and  prohibition  will  lie  only  in  perpetual 
restraint. 

If,  in  the  exercise  of  individual  liberty  allowed,  the  privilege 
is  abused,  it  cannot  be  left  to  be  construed  and  treated  as 
license,  and  should  be  at  once  cut  off  by  personal  imprison- 
ment. Not  as  punishment,  but  as  a  necessity  in  the  preserva- 
tion of  orderly  government.  The  theologian  can  take  no  ex- 
ception, for  that  is  his  theory  of  punishment.  "  Having  been 
given  the  gift  of  life  and  having  abused  it,  you  shall  be  cut  off 
forever,"  is  his  doctrine.  The  moralist  can  take  no  exceptions, 
because  morality  cannot  live  where  evil  has  license,  and  safety 
lies  only  in  perpetual  separation.  The  ideas  of  charity,  sym- 
pathy, sentiment,  have  no  connection  with  the  subject  matter. 
They  may  come  in  and  be  considered  in  the  prison,  and 
there  also  the  idea  of  punishment  may  be  entertained  as  a 
means  for  preserving  discipline;  but  none  of  them  can  right- 
fully or  naturally  enter  into  any  consideration  for  the  primary 
disposition  of  the  public  offender,  nor  for  the  final  disposition 
of  him  if  education  fails  to  restore  a  mental  balance,  making 


156  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

him  tend  to  right  in  impulse  and  action.  (I  mean  such  educa- 
tion as  can  be  directed  to  that  end.) 

We  find  in  all  relations  of  life,  that  when  favors  are  extended 
on  conditions,  with  forfeiture  in  case  of  breach  of  conditions, 
the  tendency  of  efforts  is  to  retain  or  secure  the  favors  by 
observing  the  conditions.  Where  forfeiture  occurs  it  is  held 
up  by  others  having  knowledge  of  it  as  a  warning  and  ex- 
ample; but  it  is  not  to  be  considered  as  punishment,  and  if 
so  considered  would  lose  its  tendency  to  maintain  a  disposition 
to  observe  conditions.  Apply  it  to  a  class  in  school,  striving 
for  honors.  Suppose  that  the  failure  to  obtain  them  were  to 
•be  regarded  as  punishment ;  what  would  be  the  moral  effect  of 
offering  honors  for  the  best  deportment,  diligence,  and  perfec- 
tion in  lessons?  Half  an  eye  can  see  that  it  would  be  de- 
moralizing to  the  last  degree.  But  offered  on  condition  that 
they  must  be  earned  by  good  conduct,  and  the  entire  stimulus 
is  toward  moral  ends  guided  by  moral  ambition. 

Organized  society  gives  each  indvidual  the  gift  of  liberty, 
consistent  with  the  equal  rights  of  others  and  the  public  order. 
When  the  gift  is  abused  society  should  take  it  back  and  pro- 
hibit its  use  in  hands  that  abuse  it;  not  as  punishment,  but  as 
a  forfeiture  by  breach  of  the  conditions  on  which  the  favor  is 
extended.  The  statutory  system,  or  plan,  or  theory,  of  pun- 
ishment for  offences  now  in  force,  restores  the  favors  after  a 
fixed,  temporary  forfeiture,  whether  the  offender  be  any  more 
trustworthy  or  not ;  and  this  temporary  forfeiture  is  miscalled 
punishment,  and  leaves  the  offender  in  the  position  to  compel 
the  state  to  restore  the  favor,  though  he  may  announce  that  he 
will  again  misuse  and  abuse  it.  As  punishment  it  is  a  fallacy, 
and  as  an  element  in  reformation  it  is  an  absurdity. 

Under  the  statutory  system  of  penalties  there  is  no  certainty 
of  infliction  on  offenders.  There  is  no  equality  in  inflictions. 
There  is  exultation  in  those  who  escape,  or  who  escape 
lightly,  and  a  constant  sense  of  injustice  and  a  desire  for  re- 
venge, in  those  who  are  condemned,  or  who  suffer  severe 
penalty  where  others  in  like  cases  have  escaped,  or  escaped 
with  light  sentence.  In  both  there  is  contempt  for  the  law 
and  constant  efforts  to  evade  and  defeat  it  by  any  means. 
But  if  it  could  come  to  be  understood,  that  breach  of  the  con- 


PUNISHMENT.  157 

ditions  on  which  liberty  is  enjoyed,  will  forfeit  the  privilege 
absolutely,  as  a  result,  with  no  right  whatever  to  restoration, 
and  no  hope  only  at  the  will  of  the  state,  we  might  reasonably 
look  for  more  caution,  more  fear  of  forfeiture,  and  less  cases 
of  offence.  The  absence  from  the  public  of  those  put  away 
and  their  non-return,  with  the  knowledge  of  that  fact  by  those 
remaining  at  large,  would  exert  a  powerful  influence  in  the 
prohibition  of  crime.  Remove  from  the  statute  all  idea  of 
punishment  as  a  result  of  offence,  and  let  it  be  understood 
that  the  right  to  live  in  the  world  with  their  fellow  men,  would 
be  forfeited  in  case  of  offence,  and  that  thenceforth  they  would 
be  exiles  to  prison  walls,  prison  discipline  and  prison  labor, 
and  men  who  could  reflect  at  all  would  pause  before  taking 
the  chances  of  incurring  the  forfeiture. 

Punishment,  as  I  have  intimated,  is  something  pertaining  to 
prison  discipline  and  belongs  inside  the  prison  walls.  As  con- 
templated by  the  statutes  with  its  system  of  penalties — and 
published  for  the  information  of  all — it  is  much  like  telling  a 
sick  man  who  is  regarded  as  dangerously  ill,  that  you  are  going 
to  make  him  more  dangerously  sick,  with  the  expectation  of 
curing  him.  That  would  tend  to  a  fatal  end  rather  than 
a  favorable  one ;  or,  it  is  like  breaking  still  worse  a  broken  ves- 
sel as  a  means  of  restoring  it.  Properly  understood,  punish- 
ment is  something  that  swiftly  and  certainly  follows  wrong- 
doing, bringing  personal  danger  and  physical  suffering  of  a 
character  to  create  a  dread  of  having  it  repeated,  A  threat  of 
it  creates  no  dread  unless  two  things  concur  in  connection  with 
it — the  certain  power  to  inflict  it  and  the  certainty  that  it  will 
be  inflicted.  This  can  be  done  in  prison  in  aid  of  discipline. 
But  it  cannot  concur  in  connection  with  the  statute,  for  the 
state  has  not  the  certain  power  to  arrest  the  offender  or  the 
certainty  of  inflicting  the  penalty  when  an  arrest  is  made. 
Therefore,  as  I  have  asserted,  punishment  by  the  state  by 
means  of  specific  penalties  should  be  entirely  done  away  with, 
except  so  far  as  forfeiture  of  the  right  to  liberty,  and  commit- 
ment to  prison  without  any  definite  limit,  may  operate  as  pun- 
ishment, on  such  as  may  be  reformed  and  eventually  be  again 
trusted  with  liberty. 

In  the  prison  there  can  and  should  be  punishment  for  breach 


158  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

of  discipline.  It  may  be  by  forfeiture  of  favors  or  privileges, 
or  of  personal  comforts ;  by  added  burdens ;  and  with  the 
brutal  and  devilish  who  have  no  moral  elements  to  which  ap- 
peal can  be  made,  by  inflicting  physical  pain.  There,  certainty 
of  power  to  inflict  and  certainty  of  infliction  can  concur  with 
the  promise  of  it,  in  case  of  offence  for  which  penalty  is  proper. 
There,  too,  it  can  be  apportioned  and  graded  to  the  individual 
and  the  facts  in  each  case,  with  a  certainty  of  justice  as  nearly 
as  human  judgment  can  perceive.  There,  charity,  pity,  sym- 
pathy, benevolence,  and  sentiment,  governed  by  common 
sense,  can  be  so  manifested  as  to  mingle  with  discipline,  act  as 
solvents,  mediums  for  understanding,  stimulants  to  higher 
thoughts  and  better  impulses,  invigorants,  to  aid  good  resolves, 
and  material  aids  in  the  hands  of  wise  and  humane  officials, 
toward  reformations  in  those  where  reform  is  possible.  In 
such  a  place  and  under  such  relations  and  conditions  only  can 
a  true  idea  of  punishment  obtain,  and  a  practical  use  be  made 
of  it,  either  for  discipline  alone,  or  for  discipline  as  an  aid  to 
reformation. 

Under  the  head  of  Prisons  and  Reformation  I  may  further 
consider  the  subject  of  punishment  to  some  extent  in  those 
connections,  but  in  this  review  I  desire  to  emphasize  the  argu- 
ment that  the  present  statutory  enactments  that  provide  deter- 
minate penalties  with  a  view  to  punishment,  not  only  fail  of 
the  object,  but  are  inimical  to  every  correct  idea  and  purpose 
of  punishment.  If  reformation  is  the  object — as  it  should  be 
— it  tends  to  prevent  it.  If  the  convict  is  not  reformable,  it 
allows  him  to  demand  a  restoration  to  liberty  at  the  end  of  the 
term,  regardless  of  his  fitness  for  it.  It  places  the  state,  the 
criminals,  and  society,  all  in  a  false  position  and  maintains 
false  relations,  to  the  detriment  of  all  three.  Therefore,  all 
fixed  penalties  should  be  abrogated.  Provisions  should  be 
made  for  the  proper  confining  of  offenders,  by  such  prisons  as 
are  needed,  and  on  conviction  the  offender  should  be  commit- 
ted as  an  enemy  to  liberty.  The  temporary  and  final  disposi- 
tions to  be  made  of  him  should  be  determined  by  facts,  the  first 
as  developed  at  the  time  of  conviction,  and  the  last  as  they  may 
be  developed  after  commitment. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

PRISONS. 

THE  subject  of  prisons,  in  the  thoughts  of  the  legislative 
mind,  has  been  on  the  same  plane  with  the  ideas  of  pun- 
ishment by  the  state,  by  means  of  fixed  penalties ;  "  confined 
at  hard  labor  for  the  period  of  —  —  years,"  etc.  There,  to 
have  the  head  and  face  shaved,  a  zebra  suit  of  coarse  clothes, 
a  narrow  cell  with  hard  bed,  silence,  coarse  food  and  mere 
animal  existence  with  hard  labor.  It  was  for  all  alike,  for  long 
time,  male  and  female,  old  and  young,  the  least  offensive  and 
through  every  grade  down  to  the  vilest,  differing  only  in  the 
term.  Later  years  have  made  separations.  Some  states  have 
separate  institutions  for  the  sexes  and  for  the  young  offenders ; 
but  in  many  the  old  forms  prevail.  A  few  have  reformatories 
and  some  classifications;  but  in  all  the  sentence  is  still  limited 
and  fixed,  though  subject  to  earlier  determination,  dependent 
on  the  prisoner  himself.  In  some  additions  have  been  made 
to  personal  comfort  and  convenience,  improvement  in  the  food 
furnished,  in  hospital  arrangements,  disposition  of  sewage  and 
waste,  water  supply,  and  enlargement  of  liberty  by  release 
from  restraints,  with  means  for  amusement,  acquisition  of 
knowledge,  and  other  things  to  make  life  less  brutal  and  more 
endurable.  But  the  general  idea  of  punishment  by  the  state 
prevails  entirely,  and  the  idea  of  reformation  has  obtained 
only  a  partial  footing,  and  that  mostly  in  the  conduct  of 
prisons  by  the  wardens  and  managers,  who  are  doing  their  best 
in  the  direction  of  reformations  that  they  can,  under  the  legal 
provisions  as  they  exist  and  by  which  they  are  bound.  But 
profitable  progress  cannot  be  made,  of  a  permanent  charac- 
ter, until  the  legislature  can  be  made  to  understand  that 
prisons  must  be  constructed  and  adapted  to  the  processes 
needed  for  reformation,  as  well  as  for  safe  keeping  of  prisoners  ; 
.and  that  requires  the  recognition  of  some  facts  to  which  the 


l6o  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

legislative  will  is  opposed  whenever  those  facts  present  them- 
selves. The  first  one  is  the  fact  of  cost.  As  a  practical  fact 
legislation  goes  too  much  on  the  ground  that  public  parsimony 
is  public  economy ;  and  often  it  pinches  hardest  where  liber- 
ality is  true  economy,  and  is  most  liberal  when  pinching 
would  be  economy.  It  will  appropriate  twelve  hundred 
dollars  a  room  (in  some  cases  four  thousand  dollars)  to  build  a 
hospital  for  a  thousand  insane  people,  and  money  without 
limit  to  provide  for  and  treat  the  patients,  where  no  system- 
atic labor  is  or  can  be  done  by  the  inmates;  but  it  will  pinch 
to  the  last  possible  limit  of  force,  in  providing  for  one  thousand 
convicts  who  are  all  to  labor,  and  be  treated  for  an  insanity 
more  dangerous,  needing  greater  care  and  skill,  and  the  pro- 
visions required  are  of  far  more  consequence  to  the  public 
welfare,  than  in  case  of  the  insane.  A  moral  obliquity  exists 
in  this  case  as  well  as  in  another  case  I  have  spoken  of.  It  is 
of  far  more  consequence  that  the  public  offenders  should  be 
cured  than  that  the  insane  and  demented  should  be,  or  that 
they  should  be  safely  kept.  The  crime  classes  occupy  a  rela- 
tion to  the  state  more  vital  than  the  latter  do  or  can.  The 
provisions  made  for  the  insane  are,  in  some  respects,  uselessly 
extravagant.  Those  for  the  offenders  are,  in  some  respects, 
senselessly  penurious.  The  question  of  costs  for  proper 
prison  arrangements,  should  be  a  secondary  consideration  to 
the  necessities  in  carrying  out  the  constitutional  mandate  ta 
found  the  criminal  code  "  on  the  principle  of  reformation." 
The  existing  prisons  are,  in  many  ways,  unfitted  for  that  pur- 
pose, and  some  of  them  wholly  so. 

The  prison  population  is  increasing  faster  in  proportion  than 
the  general  population.  The  characteristics  of  the  criminals 
and  of  the  criminal  classes  are  changing  from  the  old  types. 
The  regulations  as  to  labor  are  everywhere  changing  more 
than  anything  else.  The  theories  of  prison  authorities  as  to 
the  different  systems  for  prisons — the  congregate,  the  solitary, 
and  the  wholly  reformatory  plans — as  well  as  the  theories  re- 
garding labor  in  prisons,  are  in  an  antagonistic  condition  that 
is  not  favorable  to  discovery  of  the  best,  at  an  early  time  in 
the  future.  There  is  a  conflict  between  old  experience  under 
old  methods  and  young  experience  under  new  methods  among 


PRISONS.  l6l 

prison  officials,  as  well  as  between  old  sentiment  and  enthusi- 
asm and  new  sentiment  and  enthusiasm,  between  theologians 
and  humanitarians  in  the  religious  world  of  reformers.  Amid 
the  confusion  it  is  not  easy  to  get  a  foundation  steady  and 
still  enough,  to  obtain  a  good  observation  of  any  new  sugges- 
tions, so  they  can  be  fairly  examined  by  themselves.  It  is  of 
importance  that  it  be  done,  however. 

The  demagogism  of  machine,  partisan  politics  that  en- 
couraged and  dragged  elements  of  the  labor  problem  into  the 
prison,  and  to  secure  the  votes  of  laboring  men  finally  estab- 
lished a  foolish  sentiment  to  the  effect  that  prison  labor  com- 
peted with  outside  labor,  to  the  injury  of  the  latter  ;  to  some 
extent  secured  abolition  of  labor  in  the  prisons,  and  created  a 
baseless  opinion  resulting  in  some  legislation  of  a  character 
dangerous  to  the  peace  and  well-being  of  society,  in  an  effort 
to  force  labor  from  the  prisons.  If  those  in  the  prisons  were 
at  labor  outside  the  competition  would  be  greater,  and  to  sup- 
port convicts  without  labor  is  a  greater  detriment  to  outside 
labor,  than  all  the  labor  that  can  be  done  in  prisons  would  be. 

The  purpose  of  imprisonment  must  be  borne  in  mind.  It  is 
to  protect  society  and  government  from  the  disorderly  ele- 
ments; to  reform  those  elements  and  make  them  orderly 
where  possible  ;  and  to  keep  them  in  prison  if  not  reformable. 
With  this  before"  us,  we  must  see  what  those  disorderly  ele- 
ments are  just  as  they  must  be  dealt  with,  in  order  to  know 
what  kind  of  prison  is  needed.  Convicts  may  be  classed  under 
five  heads  : 

i.  Those  who  are  innocent  and  wrongly  convicted,  with 
those  who  are  accidental  offenders ;  who  have  been  ignorant  of 
the  law  or  have  misunderstood  it,  and  have  had  no  intention  to 
commit  a  crime  ;  although  they  might  have  known  their  act 
was  not  in  strict  accordance  with  a  high  sense  of  honor.  A 
case  like  this  for  instance.  A,  has  a  business  and  property 
and  is  embarrassed.  With  a  little  time  he  can  extricate  him- 
self ;  but  without  more  time  than  his  creditors  will  give  when 
they  learn  his  condition  he  must  become  bankrupt.  He  gets 
some  friend  to  act  as  dummy  for  him,  and  for  a  pretended  or 
inadequate  consideration  sells  out  to  him,  to  hold  until  he  can 
turn  himself.  The  friend  does  not  know  that  it  is  crime  to  be 


1 62  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

a  party  to  such  a  transaction,  and  neither  party  have  any  in- 
tention or  idea  of  defrauding  any  creditor,  but  intend  to  pay 
all  in  full ;  while  in  law  it  is  an  offence  to  hinder  creditors  with- 
out intent  to  defraud.  Had  he  known  it,  he  would  not  have 
been  a  party  to  it.  They  are  detected  and  convicted.  There 
is  no  element  of  the  criminal  here,  though  the  door  is  opened 
that  leads  to  crime.  But  it  obstructs  the  law  in  the  general 
preservation  of  order,  and  is,  therefore,  unlawful.  Or,  take  a 
case  of  assault  and  defence,  where,  in  the  excitement  and  heat  of 
passion,  the  defence  goes  too  far  and  mortally  injures  the  as- 
sailant without  any  real  intention  to  do  so,  and  without  any 
real  necessity.  He  becomes  the  aggressor  and  is  convicted  of 
manslaughter.  There  was  no  criminal  design  or  intention, 
only  want  of  thought. 

2.  The  criminals  whose  moral   perceptions  are  such  as  will 
enable  them  to  see  that  it  is  best  to  do  right,  and   have  moral 
will  power  enough  to  hold  them  in  the  channels  of  right  when 
pointed  out  and  they  have  been  taught  how  to  wake  a  living 
while  following  those  channels.     This  class  is  reformable. 

3.  Those  with  moral  perceptions  to  recognize  the  wrong,  and 
be  willing  to  avoid  it,  but  who  cannot  be  taught  to  make  a  living 
while  doing  right.     These  will  fall  into  crime  again,  or  remain 
on  the   plane   of  pauperism,  and  propagate  more    like  them- 
selves. 

4.  Those  who  can  comprehend  right  and  wrong,  who  can  make 
a  living  while  acting  right,  but   lack  will-power,  either  to  con- 
trol their  criminal  impulses,  or  to  resist  temptation,  or  the  per- 
suasion of  others  of  evil  intentions.     These  cannot  be  trusted. 

5.  The  brutal  and  vicious;  and  those  with  weak  moral  per- 
ceptions or  none  at  all,  whether  they  be  intelligent   or  ignorant. 
Those  with  no  moral  anchorage  to  hold  them  and  no  elements 
or  susceptibilities  to  which  an  appeal  can  be  made,  except  that 
of  fear  of  personal  torture.     With  such,  reformation  is  impos- 
sible. 

In  the  first  four  classes  will  be  found  every  grade,  of  intelli- 
gence and  kind  of  temperament  that  exists  among  the  non- 
criminal  class.  They  will  come  to  the  prisons,  from  the  ignor- 
ant clod-hopper  and  the  denizen  of  the  city  slums,  to  the  edu- 
cated country  gentleman  and  the  city-bred  collegian  ;  the  pov- 


PRISONS.  163 

erty-stricken  youth  with  no  chances  for  advancement,  to  the 
rich  man's  child  who  has  had  every  advantage,  and  been  placed 
in  a  position  he  could  not  fill,  merely  to  gratify  parental  pride 
and  ambition;  from  the  dunce  to  the  genius;  from  the  hap- 
py-go-lucky, devil-may-care  roysterer  to  the  sullen  and  discon- 
tented gambler ;  from  the  born  human  hog,  to  the  delicate, 
sensitive,  refined  organism  that  is  instinctively  gentlemanly  ; 
yet  all  are  unbalanced,  and  all  drift  into  prison  moorings  be- 
cause of  an  unbalanced  mentality  or  unfortunate  environment, 
or  of  both. 

It  should  not  require  any  special  wisdom  to  see  that  no  one 
kind  of  a  prison  can  be  proper  to  receive  and  treat  all  these  ; 
or  that  no  practical  reformation  can  be  effected  in  one  prison 
alone.  And  it  follows  as  a  necessity  that  a  system  of  prisons 
is  required  to  carry  out  the  commands  of  the  fundamental  law. 
Those  for  juveniles  and  females,  separate  from  those  for  men  ; 
and  enough  as  to  all  for  necessary  classification.  This  is 
thoroughly  carried  out  for  the  insane,  and  I  repeat,  and  desire 
to  emphasize  it,  that  it  is  of  far  more  importance  to  the  state 
and  the  public  that  it  should  be  done  for  the  offending  classes  ; 
for,  as  factors  in  society  and  government,  they  bear  far  more 
important  relations  to  the  state  and  the  public  welfare  than 
the  insane  do,  and  their  cure  or  safe  custody  is  of  more  im- 
portance in  every  way.  A  practical  design  for  such  a  system 
of  prisons  and  for  their  proper  management  will  be  one  solu- 
tion of  the  "  prison  question  "  so  far  as  convicts  are  concerned, 
while  such  practical  legislation  as  will  prohibit  or  limit  the 
procreation  of  criminals  and  the  elements  that  cause  them, 
will  complete  the  solution  of  that  question  to  the  extent  that 
human  effort  can  reach.  Toward  the  subject  of  restriction 
and  prevention  I  have  already  offered  suggestions.  If,  as  fhe 
generations  have  passed,  legislation  and  education  have  brought 
the  changes  from  polytheism  to  monotheism,  and  from  poly- 
gamy to  monogamy,  it  would  seem  difficult  to  find  reasons 
why  it  cannot  and  should  not  effect  a  change  from  promiscuous 
generation  to  stirpiculture.  And  if,  in  the  progress  already 
made,  legal  extremes  are  resorted  to,  as  we  see  in  Utah  to-day  to 
suppress  a  trifling  matter  of  a  few  sporadic  cases  of  plural  mar- 
riages, practiced  as  part  of  a  religious  belief,  far  more  wisely 


164  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

'  and  justly  may  we  go  to  more  extreme  legal  means,  to  sup- 
press the  appalling  and  epidemic  evil  of  the  production  of  mill- 
ions of  paupers,  idiots  and  criminals.  Not  forgetting  this  im- 
perative necessity,  I  wish  to  offer  some  further  suggestions  on 
the  subject  of  prisons. 

The  first  matter  of  importance  is,  the  selection  of  a  location. 
It  should  be  such  that  perfect  drainage,  abundant  water  sup- 
ply, and  ready  disposition  of  waste  and  sewage  can  be  se- 
cured, and  also  be  convenient  to  principal  lines  of  transporta- 
tion. It  should  be  outside  of  the  lines  of  any  city  or  town  ; 
should  have  abundance  of  room — not  less  than  one  hundred 
or  one  hundred  and  fifty  acres ;  should  be  a  state  reservation, 
exempt  from  any  and  all  interference  by  any  other  organiza- 
tion or  agency. 

The  reservation  should  be  for  state  purposes  alone ;  with  no 
right  of  municipal  or  private  corporations  within  it  for  any 
purpose  whatever,  except  so  far  as  the  state  may  authorize, 
and  use  officials  as  agencies  with  corporate  powers  in  govern- 
ment. At  present  some  towns  and  cities  have  extended  their 
limits  and  jurisdiction  beyond  and  around  penitentiaries,  ex- 
ercising absolute  control  on  every  side,  and  they  can  be  ap- 
proached only  within  and  subject  to  the  municipality  and 
subject  to  its  regulations.  Such  a  situation  and  the  relations 
incident  are  absurd  to  the  extent  of  ridicule. 

The  prison  should  be  built  with  a  view  to  making  escape 
impossible.  To  the  preservation  of  health.  To  the  purposes 
of  varied  industrial  pursuits.  To  the  education  and  moral 
elevation  and  development  of  the  inmates,  their  classification 
into  groups,  and  so  that  congregate  or  isolated  conditions  can 
be  maintained  to  a  necessary  extent.  There  should  be  plenty 
of  light ;  provisions  for  heating  under  complete  regulating  ad- 
justments, sufficient  for  the  lowest  temperature,  and  also  for 
ventilation.  Sleeping  cells  should  be  located  so  plenty  of 
sunlight  can  enter  the  court,  and  be  excluded  at  will.  Abun- 
dant provisions  for  extinguishment  of  fire,  and  for  maintaining 
perfect  cleanliness. 

A  prison  involves  all  the  elements  and  forces  in  operation  in 
the  outside  world,  and  needs  all  that  is  there  required,  with 
the  added  elements  the  world  would  need  if  its  inhabitants 


PRISONS.  165 

could  escape  from  it  and  it  was  necessary  to  prevent  them.  The 
inmates  are  to  be  governed ;  and  that  involves  laws,  officials, 
armed  forces,  revenue,  and  productive  industries.  They  must 
be  housed,  clothed,  fed,  instructed,  doctored,  and  kept  clean. 
That  involves  provisions  for  labor  and  means  to  earn  money ; 
hotel  management;  supplies  for  everything;  conveyances, 
street^, vehicles,  municipal  management  and  supervision;  be- 
sides schools,  instructors,  and  everything  to  manage  a  world 
by  itself,  filled  with  a  majority  of  disorderly  inhabitants  who 
are  unwilling  residents,  who  must  live  together  there.  To 
make  such  provisions  calls  for  the  highest  skill  in  science  and 
art,  and  for  the  best  executive  ability  in  arrangements  and 
construction,  and  the  best  administrative  ability  in  supervision 
and  conduct.  Permanency,  utility,  adaptability  to  the  uses 
desired,  future  enlargement  and  additions,  each  and  all  are  to 
be  considered ;  for  this  world  zui/l  not  cease  to  exist  and  ivill 
grow  larger. 

I  have  said,  the  principal  prison  should  be  a  receiving  prison 
and  reformatory,  to  which  all  first  offenders  should  be  sent, 
there  to  remain  for  experiment  and  trial.  If  it  is  decided  that 
they  are  reformable,  to  be  retained  there  until  released  on 
parole  or  pardon,  or  prove  to  be  unreformable.  The  course  of 
discipline  must  continue  a  matter  of  experiment  for  some  time 
yet.  It  is  being  conducted  here  and  abroad  under  different 
theories,  and  time,  with  local  conditions,  will  modify  methods, 
and  ultimately  develop  the  highest  possibilities. 

There  should  be  a  second  and  subordinate  prison  built  on 
the  same  general  plan,  with  a  view  to  the  perpetual  confine- 
ment of  the  unreformable  of  the  better  classes;  including  the 
third  and  fourth  classes  I  have  designated.  To  this,  all  these 
unreformable  convicts  and  all  second  offenders  should  be  sent 
and  kept.  Some  of  them  may,  ultimately,  develop  evidences 
of  possible  reformation,  and  may  be  again  removed  to  the  re- 
formatory and  given  further  trial.  So,  second  offenders  may 
be  found  of  this  kind  who  may  be  again  tried.  Constant  care 
.  and  watchfulness  on  the  part  of  the  prison  managers  will  be 
able  to  detect  every  case  with  reasonable  certainty,  and  enable 
them  to  see  that  reformable  characters  have  every  opportunity. 

In  neither  of  these  prisons  should  there  be  any  marks  or 


1 66  THE    PRISON    QUESTION. 

badges  of  disgrace  or  humiliation.  Proper  uniform  cannot  be 
so  regarded.  The  interests  of  the  convict  and  the  govern- 
ment are  identical,  and  the  aim  of  government  should  be  to 
make  the  convict  comprehend  the  true  relations  and  objects. 
They  are  not  different  from  those  existing  in  the  insane,  the 
deaf  and  dumb,  the  blind  and  the  feeble-minded  asylums  ;  or, 
in  fact,  in  the  free  schools.  Each  inmate  has  different  mental 
elements  to  be  worked  on  and  impressed  to  the  same  end  and 
for  the  same  results.  In  each,  it  is  to  build  up  such  mental 
force  as  will  enable  the  subject  to  go  out  into  the  world,  secure 
a  living,  and  fill  the  place  of  an  orderly  citizen.  In  the  crimi- 
nal, a  vicious  element  in  the  mentality  is  to  be  removed,  moral 
perception  be  created,  with  mental  force  to  make  the  impulses 
from  them  the  dominant  motive  of  action.  Punishments — in- 
cluding corporal  ones — can  be  restored  to,  to  maintain  dis- 
cipline ;  but  the  idea  of  punishment  by  imprisonment  and 
labor  for  the  state,  should  be  wholly  excluded.  That  idea  of 
punishment  should  exist  only  in  the  relations  between  the 
convict  and  the  governor  of  the  prison,  and  must  be  left  largely 
to  the  governor's  discretion  under  control  of  the  prison  board. 
It  should  be  inflicted  only  on  his  personal  order,  and  under 
his  eye.  Firmness,  unvarying  kindness,  and  no  exhibitions  of 
temper,  should  at  all  times  characterize  the  governor  and 
keepers.  Whether  the  punishment  be  moral,  mental  or  physi- 
cal, a  complete  and  full  explanation  of  the  relations,  the  rules 
violated,  the  offence  and  to  what  it  leads,  and  the  object  of 
the  punishment — to  show  that  the  new  relations  created  by 
the  offence  make  punishment  a  necessity  and  a  duty,  and  it 
all  results  from  the  act  of  the  offender  himself — should  be 
made  and  strongly  impressed  on  the  offender ;  and  his  own 
statement  should  be  fully  heard  and  the  punishment  be  graded 
to  the  offence  and  the  peculiar  character  of  the  individual. 
No  subordinate  or  employe  should  be  permitted  to  .condemn 
to  punishment  without  personal  order  from  the  governor,  nor 
be  ordered  by  the  governor  without  the  fullest  interview  and 
explanation  with  and  to  the  offender. 

The  convict  is  the  ward  and  the  apprentice  of  the  state.  To 
reiterate  somewhat,  he  lacks  a  mental  balance,  disturbs  the 
public  order,  and  the  state  shuts  him  up.  It  offers  him  protec- 


PRISONS.  167 

tion  in  person,  estate  and  domestic  relations,  in  return  for  his 
honest  performance  of  the  duties  of  a  citizen.  Because  of 
natural  tendency  to  vice  (an  infirmity,  as  much  as  that  of  an 
insane  ward),  or  weakness  of  will  in  resisting  vicious  influences, 
(like  the  blind  ward  who  cannot  see  his  way),  or  of  gross  ignor- 
ance and  inability  to  comprehend  (like  the  deaf  mute  who 
cannot  hear  to  learn),  he  disregards  his  obligations  and  the 
state  puts  him  in  prison  out  of  harm's  way.  The  interests  of 
both  are  identical ;  and  that  is,  his  reformation  or  enlighten- 
ment, release,  and  return  to  a  citizen's  place  and  duties.  He 
should  be  made  to  understand  this  relation  and  identity  of  in- 
terest between  the  state  and  himself,  as  clearly  as  is  possible. 
That  the  state  has  no  object  or  desire  to  inflict  pain  on  him, 
or  to  disgrace  or  humiliate  him.  That  he  is  bad,  and  the  state 
shuts  him  away  from  society  and  gives  him  a  chance  to  become 
good  ;  and  that  he  cannot  fight  the  state  and  win.  Or,  he  has 
been  weak  or  unwise.  If  he  will  became  strong  and  learn  to 
be  wise,  he  can  go  back  to  liberty.  If  not,  he  can  never  go 
back,  but  must  stay  and  work  for  the  state,  and  help  take  care 
of  himself  and  his  class.  The  state  is  his  best,  his  truest,  his 
most  liberal  and  strongest  friend.  To  keep  it  so  when  outside, 
he  must  be  orderly.  If  he  does  not,  it  is  still  his  friend  ;  for  it 
puts  him  away,  protects  him  against  injury  to  himself  and 
others,  makes  him  useful  and  gives  him  shelter,  food  and  rai- 
ment. Such  an  impression — if  made — must  and  will  remove 
every  other  inimical  to  it ;  and  a  comprehension  and  realiza- 
tion of  this  relation,  and  object  in  the  mind  of  the  convict,  will 
effect  reform  if  reform  be  possible.  If  it  does  not,  nothing 
else  will.  In  aid  of  it,  while  under  restraint,  the  convict  must 
be  made  useful  and  industrious  ;  be  furnished  employment 
adapted  to  his  physical  condition  and  mental  capacity ;  be 
classed  with  those  least  likely  to  discourage,  or  exercise  an  un- 
favorable influence  over  him.  While  the  kinds  of  employment 
must  be  limited,  they  should  be  considered  as  a  means  in  refor- 
mation, and  opportunity  be  given  for  change  and  modifications 
as  may  be  found  for  the  best,  from  time  to  time. 

The  convict  should  be  made  to  understand  that  the  prison 
is  still  the  state,  lessened  in  dimensions,  but  the  same  relations 
exist  between  him  and  the  prison  authorities  representing  the 


l68  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

law,  and  his  labor  and  general  conduct  as  if  he  existed  outside, 
and  order  and  duty  in  the  prison  are  as  necessary  to  favors 
and  protection  there  as  it  was  necessary  outside.  That  disor- 
der will  put  him  in  still  closer  bounds ;  cut  off  still  more  of 
liberty  and  personal  favors,  and  bring  on  him  still  greater  re- 
straints and  burdens ;  while  order  and  good  conduct  will  en- 
large boundaries  and  privileges,  until  reform  will  open  the 
doors  and  restore  him  to  the  larger  privileges  of  the  state. 

Suitable  managers,  foremen,  instructors,  and  assistants 
should  be  furnished,  as  is  done  in  any  other  department  or 
asylum ;  or  in  an  armory,  navy  yard,  military  or  naval  school, 
postal  department,  or  any  other  place  where  citizens  are  to  be 
made  fit  for  the  uses  of  government,  whether  as  citizens  or 
employes.  And  if  it  is  necessary  in  the  charge  of  those  who 
are  sane  and  at  liberty  and  orderly,  in  any  business  of  govern- 
ment, it  is  all  the  more  necessary  in  case  of  the  unsound  and 
disorderly  in  government  prisons.  It  is  not  possible  to  be 
right  in  saying  that,  a  bad  and  disorderly  person  is  to  be  turned 
adrift  because  he  is  so,  nor  to  be  right  in  saying  that,  where 
government  takes  him  into  custody  because  he  is  so,  it  shall 
treat  him  as  other  than  as  an  apprentice,  working  under  com- 
pulsion, until  he  demonstrates  his  ability  to  work  for  himself. 
Government  is  compelled  to  take  him  into  custody,  as  it  does 
one  violently  or  murderously  insane ;  and  being  in  custody,  his 
bad  tendencies  do  not  change  these  relations  at  all,  only  to  the 
extent  required  to  make  proper  provisions  for  his  care  and 
cure,  or  care  and  usefulness,  or  at  least  harmlessness,  if 
incurable. 

There  should  be  a  third  prison  for  the  worst  class,  and  they 
should  be  there  separately  confined  for  life,  but  under  similar 
rules  as  in  the  other  prisons,  but  adapted  to  them.  They 
should  have  favors  and  comforts  proportioned  to  conduct. 
Even  there,  development  of  latent  forces  may,  in  time,  entitle 
the  convict  to  a  trial  in  the  second  prison,  and  even  in  the  first. 
In  the  third  prison,  vice  and  devilishness  being  the  prime 
factor  in  the  make-up  of  the  inmates,  the  supplies  should  be  of 
a  character  to  give  common  comforts  and  no  more.  Food 
should  be  nutritious  and  abundant,  and  efforts  by  the  convict 
to  rise  above  his  normal  level  in  conduct  should  be  rewarded 


PRISONS.  169 

by  extended  favors ;  but  as  reform  is  hopeless  the  convict 
should  be  regarded  as  a  burden  to  the  state,  and  entitled  to  no 
consideration  only  common  animal  comforts,  in  return  for  the 
labor  he  should  be  required  to  perform.  This  class  of  con- 
victs are  like  a  dangerous  fulminate,  or  a  defective  gun  or 
steam  boiler.  There  is  no  telling  when  or  on  what  occasion 
they  may  explode  ;  and  the  provisions  for  and  care  of  them 
require  to  be  of  the  highest  order  of  safety,  and  the  latitude 
of  privileges  allowed  must  be  limited  and  well  guarded. 

In  each  prison  ample  provision  should  be  made  for  labor 
suited  to  the  purpose  of  the  prison.  In  the  middle  and  in- 
corrigible prisons,  labor  should  be  used  as  in  any  other  busi- 
ness enterprise,  for  the  best  interest  of  the  state.  To  employ 
and  benefit  the  inmates  and  pay  expenses  of  the  penal  depart- 
ment as  far  as  possible  ;  and  it  should  be  conducted  on  any 
plan  that  will  best  serve  that  end  ;  or  on  different,  or  on  several 
plans.  In  the  first  prison,  labor  should  be  used  in  business 
carried  on  for  the  state  alone.  And  this  may  be  done  on  any 
plan  or  several  plans.  The  state  may  let  a  contract  to  some 
party  or  firm  to  conduct  any  branch  of  business ;  but  the 
employes  should  be  wholly  under  state  control  and  direction. 
There  should  be  no  hiring  of  convicts  to  contractors  in  this 
prison,  but  contracts  to  manufacture  so  much,  using  convicts 
as  employes,  and  the  labor  estimated  at  its  value  as  part  of 
the  investment,  which  the  state  furnishes  and  for  which  the 
manufacturer  pays,  taking  the  product.  Or  contracts  to  fur- 
nish so  much  material,  the  foremen  and  teachers ;  work  and 
teach  the  convicts  and  pay  so  much  per  piece,  or  other  quan- 
tity, for  the  product.  The  state  should  control  the  plant  for 
all  labor  carried  on.  Others  might  work  by  the  piece.  Others 
still,  on  state  account,  entirely.  Some  convicts  having  families 
might  be  allowed  wages,  taxed  for  expenses,  and  the  residue 
earned  net  be  given  to  the  families.  This  prison  should  be 
conducted  with  a  view  to  reformation  entirely ;  and  while 
economy  should  be  observed  closely  there  should  be  no  effort 
to  make  profit  for  the  state  at  the  expense  of  the  main  object. 
As  in  the  case  of  the  blind,  the  object  is,  to  make  sound 
citizens  out  of  defective  ones  with  ability  to  gain  a  living.  In 
making  this  repeated  comparison  to  impress  the  idea  of  a 


I/O  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

principle,  I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  classifying  the 
blind  on  a  moral  level  with  the  convict.  The  former  should 
be  much  better  provided  for  than  the  latter.  The  fact  of  the 
vice  in  the  convict  should  not  be  lost  sight  of,  nor  his  lesser 
claim  to  charity.  The  purely  unfortunate  like  the  blind  and 
deaf  mutes,  are  entitled  to  the  best  that  charity  can  give. 
But  the  convict  is  also  an  unfortunate  in  most  instances ;  and 
until  he  proves  to  be  unreformable,  he,  too,  needs  charitable 
considerations,  as  well  as  those  that  belong  to  the  policy  of 
state  aid,  looking  to  his  cure,  but  of  a  less  liberal  character. 
Beyond  that,  mere  personal  comfort  answers  the  demand,  and 
with  the  worst  class  a  plain  degree  of  that. 

There  can  be  no  question  but  that,  strong  bodily  vigor  and 
health  are  necessary  to  a  clear  moral  perception  ;  and  it  also 
cannot  be  questioned  that  a  majority  of  convicts  do  not  pos- 
sess that  vigor  and  health  among  those  who  have  been  reared 
amid  the  comforts  of  life.  That,  a  restoration  to  health,  or. the 
production  of  it  where  it  has  not  existed,  helps  to  produce  a 
moral  tendency,  and  in  the  theory  and  experience  of  the  best 
scientific  ability  the  special  cultivation  of  strong  bodily  vigor 
is  one  of  the  greatest  auxiliaries  in  reforming  convicts.  In 
this  view  the  receiving  prison  should  possess  every  facility  for 
the  production  of  vigorous  health.  The  same  idea  should  be 
kept  in  view  in  respect  to  labor  as  a  means  in  advancing  the 
convict.  He  should  be  taught  to  understand  the  value  and 
uses  of  labor ;  not  only  as  a  means  of  livelihood,  but  as  a  factor 
in  education  and  intellectual  elevation.  To  take  a  pride  in  the 
quality  of  his  work  ;  in  adding  to  the  market  value  by  his  care 
and  skill  ;  and  the  improvement  in  himself  that  surely  will 
come  from  the  energies  created  by  such  a  use  of  his  faculties 
and  hands. 

The  three  prisons  should  be  entirely  separate,  though  they 
may  be  all  be  located  on  the  same  farm,  or  in  close  proximity. 
As  to  the  arrangement  of  buildings,  I  have  not  seen  any  that 
seemed  to  me  to  be  such  as  wrould  best  serve  the  purpose. 
Either  the  buildings  should  enclose  an  open  square  and  all 
face  it,  with  no  obstructions  in  the  center,  or  a  large  square 
should  be  inclosed,  with  buildings  separately  located  in  the 
central  part  in  parallel  lines  for  the  congregate  prison,  with 


PRISONS.  I/I 

liberal  roadways  between  and  enclosed  covered  crossways 
above  from  one  to  the  other,  and  a  broad  area  on  the  outside 
unobstructed  to  view  or  use  ;  and  no  building  should  approach 
or  connect,  with  the  outer  wall  anywhere,  except  the  offices  at 
the  main  entrance.  (For  the  isolated  prison — if  used — perhaps 
the  radiate  plan  from  a  common  center,  is  best.)  There  should 
be  a  liberal  parade  ground,  and  military  drill  should  constitute 
a  part  of  the  discipline.  There  should  be  room  to  devote  to 
landscape  effects  and  adornments,  admission  to  which  should 
be  among  the  favors.  I  am  not  pretending  to  present  designs 
for  a  prison,  but  suggestions  in  mere  outline  in  connection 
with  the  intention  expressed  by  the  law,  that  "  the  principle  of 
reformation  "  shall  be  the  basis  for  legislation  on  the  subject 
of  crime  and  the  disposition  of  criminals ;  and  in  a  work  like 
this,  even  those  must  be  very  limited.  If  what  I  have  said  in 
the  preceding  chapters  is  considered,  showing  as  it  does  the 
elements  to  be  dealt  with  in  seeking  to  change  the  mentality 
and  mentalisms  of  a  human  being,  nearly  or  entirely  matured, 
in  each  case  there  will  be  the  origin  and  growth  of  existing 
conditions ;  with  the  attendant  facts  of  the  environment  up  to 
that  time  ;  domestic,  social,  industrial,  educational,  moral  and 
religious,  which,  united,  have  produced  the  conditions.  The 
new  environment  furnished  by  the  state  is  the  final  condition 
which  all  that  has  preceded  has  added  to  those  attending  the 
convict  to  that  time.  An  effort  is  to  be  made,  using  this  new 
environment  to  examine,  analyze,  and  endeavor  to  so  manipu- 
late the  subject  as  to  create  a  different  mentality  and  conse- 
quently new  mentalisms.  Such  a  perception  of  political,  social 
and  individual  relations,  duties  and  obligations,  as  will  enable 
the  individual  to  practically  adapt  himself  to  them,  with  the 
impulses  to  do  so,  and  continue  to  maintain  them.  The  prison 
and  its  provisions  is  the  means  by  which  this  result  is  to  be 
accomplished,  and  it  is  easy  to  see  that,  the  requirements  are 
such  as  to  demand  the  very  highest  order  of  human  skill  in 
designing  the  details  and  carrying  them  out.  That,  to  secure 
the  greatest  possible  success  neither  expense  or  time  should 
be  considered.  The  state  is  powerful  enough,  its  resources  are 
ample  enough,  its  orderly  existence  is  at  stake,  and  it  needs 
only  to  cut  loose  from  fallacious  precedent,  recognize  facts  as 


172  THE    PRISON   QUESTION. 

they  really  are,  and  deal  with  them  practically.  Whatever 
can  aid  in  accomplishing  the  best  results  desired  should  be 
provided,  looking  steadily  at  the  conditions  as  they  are,  and 
as  they  will  be,  and  as  they  are  sought  to  be  made.  The  pro- 
ductions and  creations  of  the  past  now  existing,  should  be  dis- 
regarded and  cast  aside  whenever  they  fail  to  harmonize  and 
entirely  unite  with  the  present  aims  and  purposes. 

There  is  no  mean  in  the  "prison  question,"  even  when  con- 
fined to  prisons  themselves.  The  whole  subject  is  a  mass  of 
extremes.  With  the  criminal  at  large  there  is  anarchy ;  there- 
fore, he  must  be  confined.  In  confinement  new  extremes  arise, 
and  to  meet  them  the  law  has  fixed  confinement  as  a  punish- 
ment, with  a  paradox  that  it  shall  be  on  the  principle  of  refor- 
mation, and  after  a  fixed  period  the  confinement  shall  cease, 
regardless  of  reformation.  As  a  new  extreme  we  must  abro- 
gate the  law  and  repudiate  the  idea  of  confinement  as  punish- 
ment and  regard  simply  the  idea  of  safety  in  it.  Then  the 
true  object  of  the  law — confinement  for  safety  and  the  purpose 
of  reformation  and  until  there  is  reformation — is  to  be  carried 
out  and  the  prison  is  the  means  to  be  provided  for  that  end 
and  purpose,  and  no  other  means  can  be  provided.  Therefore, 
legislation  providing  for  the  prison  takes  the  first  position  in 
the  order  of  precedence  in  reform,  and  demands  the  highest 
consideration  government  can  give  in  its  provisions  for  main- 
taining the  purposes  of  government.  Having  defined  what 
acts  shall  be  regarded  as  crime,  having  provided  for  examina- 
tion of  those  who  are  arrested  as  offenders  so  as  to  secnre 
justice,  and  commited  them  to  prison,  having  provided  for  a 
system  of  identification  of  those  who  have  been  so  committed, 
and  having  provided  the  prison,  the  legislative  power  is  ex- 
hausted in  this  portion  of  the  provisions  for  government. 
Everything  done  and  that  can  be  done  centralizes  and 
crystallizes  for  good  and  useful  ends  or  for  bad  and  vicious 
ones  in  the  prison.  The  two  ends  desired  being  safety  and 
reformation,  the  wisdom  of  the  provisions  for  the  prison 
throughout,  will  be  demonstrated  in^  the  results;  hence,  the 
prison  ranks  all  other  considerations. 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

REFORMATION. 

THE  effort  to  reform  criminals  may  be  compared  to  the 
conversion  of  iron  into  steel ;  with  the  difference  that 
some  kind  of  steel  can  be  made  out  of  nearly  every  kind  of 
iron,  but  every  kind  of  criminal  cannot  be  reformed.  In  the 
conditions,  process  and  requirements,  there  is  a  strong  analogy. 
In  making  steel  the  first  thing  is,  to  have  the  knowledge 
necessary  to  commence  and  continue  the  process,  with  the 
right  kind  of  furnace  and  other  means.  The  next  is,  the  time. 
The  master  workman  then  examines  his  iron.  If  he  has  to 
take  a  mixed  and  uncertain  lot,  he  must  examine,  decide 
upon  its  quality  and  characteristics,  decide  on  what  it  will 
make  and  how  to  treat  it,  and  provide  for  testing  the  results 
of  the  process  from  time  to  time.  Different  lots  and  kinds  of 
iron  will  require  difference  in  the  process  of  treatment,  although 
all  on  one  general  principle.  To  force  in  and  combine  the 
carbon  with  the  iron,  until  its  nature  is  changed  to  the  new 
substance  called  steel,  is  the  object.  If  it  is  the  first  conver- 
sion into  blister  steel,  it  must  be  put  through  a  further  process 
under  the  trip-hammer  to  make  it  homogeneous  in  quality  ; 
restore  it  after  the  disintegrations  caused  by  the  process  of  the 
furnace.  If  it  is  the  second  conversion  of  making  cast  steel 
by  breaking  up  and  melting,  other  provisions  must  be  made. 
And  so  when  made,  in  preparing  the  steel  for  use ;  processes 
for  tempering  and  testing  must  be  resorted  to  with  great  care; 
and  until  found  to  be  properly  made  and  tempered,  it  is  not 
to  be  put  upon  the  market  for  use. 

Almost  exactly  the  same  procedure  and  requirements  are 
necessary  in  efforts  to  reform  the  criminal;  whether  it  be  a  first 
reformation  or  that  of  a  backslider.  As  a  change  of  the  natu- 
ral character  and  order  of  particles  takes  place  in  the  case  of 
the  iron  and  steel,  so  a  change  takes  place  in  the'character  and 

173 


174  THE  PRISON  QUESTION. 

order  of  the  tissue  in  the  criminal.  As  it  must  be  examined 
and  understood  before  and  during  the  process  to  know  what 
to  do  and  what  is  the  result  of  progress  from  time  to  time,  so 
with  the  culprit;  it  must  be  ascertained  what  kind  of  defects 
exist,  what  is  sound,  what  is  not  sound,  and  the  effects  of 
treatment  be  watched  and  known.  If  there  is  conversion  to 
reform  it  must  be  perfected  by  trial  and  consolidation,  to  see 
if  it  is  true  and  permanent  conversion.  If  not,  the  convict  is 
not  to  be  turned  loose  upon  the  public  as  fit  to  be  trusted  as  a 
citizen  and  orderly  member  of  society. 

To  effect  reform  requires  practical  knowledge  in  many  direc- 
tions, sound  common  sense,  firmness,  kindness,  and  unweary- 
ing patience.  One  must  be  able  to  read  character;  must  know 
men ;  must  be  acquainted  with  the  principles  involved  in  men- 
tal and  social  science ;  and  should  possess  a  good  medical 
education.  The  first  important  consideration  is,  the  health 
and  bodily  vigor  of  the  subject.  The  next  is,  the  extent 
and  character  of  his  knowledge,  perception  and  reasoning 
powers.  The  next  is,  his  antecedents,  and  lastly  his  idio- 
syncrasies of  body  and  mind.  This  may  be  learned  in  a 
short  time  or  it  may  take  much  time.  When  learned,  the 
kind  of  subject  to  be  dealt  with  is  known  and  the  process 
to  be  followed  can  be  decided  on.  Having  got  to  his  level 
it  now  remains  to  be  seen  if  he  can  be  made  to  compre- 
hend the  reformer;  and  if  the  latter  can  force  into  him  the 
knowledge  that  will  give  him  the  necessary  perceptions  and 
impulses  to  guide  him  on  the  way  to  reform,  and  change  him 
from  bad  to  good,  as  the  carbon  is  forced  into  the  iron  to  con- 
vert it  into  steel.  And  if  done,  whether  he  can  be  so  confirmed 
in  its  use  as  to  make  it  permanent,  as  the  steel  is  consolidated 
under  the  trip-hammer.  Here  will  begin  the  study  and  prac- 
tice of  mental  pathology  as  the  main  process  in  directing  the 
reformer.  It  may  be  necessary  to  change  the  character  of 
brain  tissue,  and  it  will  be  necessary  to  change  the  character 
and  operative  force  of  brain  ganglia,  by  developing  the  de- 
ficient, depressing  the  active  force  and  the  over  active,  and  the 
production  of  the  harmony  attendant  on  a  balanced  develop- 
ment of  the  higher  faculties. 

The  vital  forces  of  body  and  mind  in  a  convict   in   prison. 


REFORMATION.  175 

especially  at  the  time  of  entering,  are  in  more  or  less  de- 
pressed condition.  The  reformer  begins  with  his  patient 
under  this  disadvantage.  The  finer  his  organization  the  more 
sensitive  and  intelligent  he  is,  the  greater  the  depression ;  and 
more  so  in  a  first  offender.  With  such  persons  the  possibili- 
ties of  release  through  reformation  will  be  apt  to  create  a  hope 
that  will  tend  to  remove  this  depression.  With  other  tem- 
peraments, and  especially  such  as  fail  in  good  efforts  and  re- 
lapse more  or  less,  it  will  be  apt  to  increase.  The  position  of 
the  warden  and  moral  instructor  will  be  no  sinecure  if  the 
work  is  done  by  them  that  is  necessary  to  effect  reform  in 
those  that  are  reformable.  The  entire  revolution  in  the  rela- 
tions that  would  follow  the  abolition  of  the  present  methods, 
and  the  substitution  of  prisons  and  sentence  on  the  principle 
of  reformation,  would  necessitate  an  entirely  different  course 
of  procedure  from  that  now  followed,  in  efforts  to  effect  re- 
forms. More  or  less  individual  work  would  be  required  in 
studying  the  individual ;  giving  advice  suited  to  his  special 
condition  ;  offering  help  and  encouragement  in  each  case  suited 
to  it ;  as  well  as  the  discipline  and  knowledge  that  would  be 
for  classes  and  for  all. 

Deception,  voluntary  and  involuntary,  would  be  a  serious 
factor  to  deal  with.  The  promises  and  beliefs  of  the  sanguine 
and  sincere  might  mislead  themselves  and  their  governors  as 
well.  So,  those  of  the  deceitful  might.  And  here  would 
come  in  the  testing  experiments  ;  the  tempering  of  the  metal ; 
the  trials  in  various  ways  to  determine  if  the  reform  is  actual, 
with  firmness  and  moral  strength  behind  it  to  maintain  it;  or 
if  it  be  real,  but  of  the  brittle  kind  that  will  not  stand  the 
strain  to  which  it  will  be  subjected;  or  if  it  be  an  appearance 
only — pretended  but  not  real. 

To  emphasize  somewhat  the  ideas  I  wish  to  convey,  I  will 
refer  to  a  few  facts  as  given  in  the  annual  report  to  the  legis- 
lature of  New  York,  by  the  board  of  managers  and  officers  of 
the  reformatory  at  Elmira,  January,  1890,  as  to  the  inmates  of 
that  prison.  The  statistics  include  3636  prisoners.  None  ad- 
mitted who  are  over  30  years  of  age  ;  convicts  between  16  and 
30.  First,  facts  tending  to  affect  the  mental  and  physical 
organisms  in  generation  ;  giving  the  vital  origin  of  tissue  and 
arrangement  of  the  vital  centers. 


176  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

Of  epileptic  or  insane  ancestry,  there  was  13.7  percent.  Of 
drunkenness  in  ancestry,  clearly  traced,  38.7  per  cent.  Of 
doubtful  drinking  ancestry,  ii.i  per  cent.  Of  temperate  an- 
cestry, 50.2  per  cent.  Of  ancestry  with  no  education,  13.6  per 
cent.  Of  ancestry  that  could  simply  read  and  write,  38.1  per 
cent.  Of  ordinary  common  school  education,  or  more,  43.8 
per  cent.  Of  high  school  education,  or  more,  4.5  per  cent.  Of 
pauperized  ancestry  there  was  4.8  per  cent.  Of  those  with  no 
accumulations,  77  per  cent.  Of  those  who  were  forehanded,. 
1 8. 2  per  cent.  Of  ancestry  who  were  servants  or  clerks,  10.4 
per  cent.  Of  those  who  .were  common  laborers,  32.6  per  cent. 
Of  those  who  were  mechanical  workers,  36.9  per  cent.  Of 
those  who  were  engaged  in  traffic,  17.7  per  cent.  Of  profes- 
sionals, lawyers,  doctors,  preachers  and  teachers,  2.4  per  cent. 

It  will  be  noted  that  there  are  more  educated  than  ignorant, 
more  mechanics  and  traders  than  laborers  and  servants,  more 
with  temperate  than  intemperate  habits ;  while  the  main  body 
was  on  the  plane  of  poverty. 

Next,  as  to  environment  at  birth,  and  the  after  home  life,, 
when  first  impressions  were  made,  and  growth  and  develop- 
ment of  brain  ganglia  fixed  the  mentality  and  mentalisms  of 
the  individual.  Of  those  where  the  home  character  was  posi- 
tively bad,  51.8  per  cent.  Of  those  where  it  was  fair  only, 
there  were  39.9  per  cent.  Of  those  where  it  was  good,  there 
were  8.3  per  cent.  Of  1534  convicts,  who  were  homeless,  there 
occupied  furnished  rooms  in  cities,  25.4  per  cent.  There 
lived  as  itinerants  in  cheap  boarding  places,  18.2  per  cent. 
There  lived  with  their  employers,  21.6  per  cent.  There  lived 
as  rovers  and  tramps,  34.8  per  cent.  There  left  home  before 
ten  and  up  to  about  fourteen  years,  42.2  per  cent.  There  were 
o-rtiome  until  the  time  of  crime,  57.8  per  cent.  As  to  associa- 
tions there  were,  positively  bad,  56.9  per  cent.  Not  good,  39.6 
per  cent.  Doubtful,  1.8  per  cent.  Good,  1.7  per  cent. 

As  to  education,  the  illiterates  were,  19.5  per  cent.  Those 
who  could  read  and  write  with  difficulty,  49.9  per  cent.  Those 
with  ordinary  school  education,  26.9  per  cent.  Those  with 
high  school  education,  or  more,  3.7  per  cent. 

As  to  mental  capacity,  those  with  deficient  natural  capacity,, 
were  2  per  cent.  Those  with  fair  capacity  only,  were  21.7 


REFORMATION.  177 

per  cent.  Those  with  good  capacity,  were  63.2  per  cent. 
Those  with  excellent  capacity,  were  13.1  per  cent.  ^As  to  cul- 
ture, those  who  had  none  were  43.2  per  cent.  Those  who  had 
very  slight,  were  28.6  per  cent.  Those  who  had  ordinary,  were 
25.2  per  cent.  Those  who  had  much,  were  3  per  cent. 

Then  comes  susceptibility  to  moral  impressions  and  those 
who  had  positively  none  were  36.2  per  cent.  Those  who  had 
possibly  some  (which  means  practically  none,  in  effect,)  36.1 
per  cent.,  making  a  total  of  72.3  per  cent.  Of  those  ordi- 
narily susceptible  there  were  23.4  per  cent.  Of  those  specially 
susceptible  there  were  4.3  per  cent. 

Lastly,  and  indicative  of  the  absence  of  a  mentality  that 
theological  or  religious  reasoning  and  teaching  can  impress, 
until  a  complete  mental  revolution  in  a  physical  arrangement 
can  be  effected,  we  have  the  lamentable  fact  that,  of  those  with 
moral  sense  as  shown  under  examination,  either  filial  affection, 
sense  of  shame,  or  sense  of  personal  loss — all  the  elements 
that  will  feel  a  moral  effect  of  punishment  by  the  present  legal 
methods,  and  be  improved  by  it — there  were  those  who  had 
absolutely  none,  49.3  per  cent.  Those  who  had  possibly  somer 
(which  means  none  for  all  practical  purpose  and  effect,)  30.6 
per  cent.  Being  an  appalling  total  of  nearly  80  per  cent 
Ordinarily  sensitive,  only  15.2  per  cent.  And  especially  sen- 
sitive, 4.9  per  cent. 

It  is  highly  probable  that  this  is  a  more  favorable  showing 
than  can  be  made  by  most  other  prisons.  The  great  substra- 
tum of  petty  offenders  that  fill  the  city  prisons  and  houses  of 
correction,  and  work-houses ;  that  are  sent  up  for  short  terms, 
and  that  furnish  some  of  the  criminals  who  finally  reach  the 
Reformatory,  would  make  a  much  less  favorable  showing  in 
intelligence  and  moral  perception,  if  examined  and  classified 
with  equal  care,  while  they  largely  outnumber  the  felons,  and 
yet  are  on  the  crime  levels,  and  in  the  outcome  more  danger- 
ous to  the  moral  well-being 'of  society.  But  the  same  general 
condition  runs  throughout  the  crime  class,  and  investigation 
up  to  this  time  seems  to  prove  beyond  the  power  of  successful 
contradiction,  the  truth  of  the  general  statements  I  have  made 
in  the  preliminary  chapters  of  this  work.  And  to  clearly  show 
as  well,  that  reformation  is  possible,  only  through  the  means 

I 


178  THE   PRISON    QUESTION. 

of  a  new  birth  ;  the  creation  of  a  new  mentality  by  modifica- 
tion of  the  old  ;  by  physical  creation  of  a  different  character 
of  brain  tissue  through  bodily  changes  by  means  of  change  of 
environment  and  food,  and  mental  impressions  ;  by  teaching 
and  completely  revolutionizing  the  individual,  physically  and 
mentally.  That  this  can  be  done  with  some  only  and  not  all, 
and  that  no  complete  reform  can  be  perfected  in  any  who  have 
no  moral  sense  at  the  beginning.  To  attempt  it  at  all  with  a 
determinate  sentence  to  prison  is,  comparatively,  waste  of  ef- 
fort. To  turn  the  unreformed  loose  upon  society  is  nothing 
less  than  crime  in  the  state,  and  makes  government  particeps 
criminis  in  all  the  evils  that  follow  from  acts  of  the  released 
convict. 

The  tables  from  which  the  foregoing  extracts  were  taken, 
give  the  physical  condition  of  the  convicts  as  being,  low  and 
coarse,  25.2  per  cent.;  medium,  37.2  per  cent.;  good,  37.6  per 
cent.  In  what  was  called  good  health,  86.2  per  cent.  As  a 
basis  for  the  work  of  reform  we  would  have  about  62.4  per 
cent,  of  animals  like  a  mule  and  horse  with  human  intelligence. 
Some,  the  coarse  fibre  of  the  mule  in  health,  some,  with  the 
more  delicate  fibre  of  the  horse  with  health  ;  with  no  suscepti- 
bility to  moral  impressions,  with  no  moral  sense  as  to  love  of 
home,  shame,  or  personal  loss.  It  strongly  emphasizes  the 
statement  that  the  world  within  the  prison  is  much  like  the 
world  without,  and  demands  the  same  action  to  secure  moral 
supremacy — that  is,  breeding  it  as  well  as  cultivating.  In  the 
prison  the  breeding  is  limited  to  secondary  efforts  to  revolu- 
tionize the  results  of  vicious  breeding  at  the  start,  and  the  cul- 
tivation of  such  material  as  has  resulted.  It  has  been  claimed 
that  eighty  per  cent,  have  been  reformed.  I  think  the  New 
York  and  Massachusetts  Reformatories  have  both  made  that 
claim.  If  the  words,  "discharged  as  reformed,"  be  substituted, 
they  may  be  accepted.  But  if  we  are  to  use  the  word  "  re- 
formed,'' I  doubt  if  twenty  per  cent,  are  reformed,  or  ever  will 
be.  And  I  apply  that  as  the  maximum  to  the  criminal  and 
insane  classes  throughout. 

So  far,  in  this  presentation  of  theories  as  contemplated  in 
this  book,  we  have  our  prison,  our  convicts,  and  our  general 
knowledge  of  the  material  we  have  to  deal  with  in  our  efforts 


REFORMATION.  1/9 

for  reformation.  We  have  the  subjects  of  Mentality,  of  Mar- 
riage and  Home,  of  the  operation  of  Natural  Forces,  of  Theol- 
ogy and  its  field  of  labor  and  power  of  impressing  this  mental- 
ity, and  we  have  Mental  Pathology  and  social  conditions.  We 
have  the  results  of  legislation  and  of  domestic,  social  and  polit- 
ical environment,  and  we  have  before  us  an  outgrowth  in  the 
shape  of  this  criminal,  shut  out  from  the  world,  and  we  are  to 
begin  ro  make  him  over  and  produce  a  self-sustaining  moral 
intelligence  out  of  him  in  place  of  the  destructive  immoral  in- 
telligence that  has  come  of  all  these  factors  as  a  legitimate 
outgrowth.  If  we  can  do  this,  it  will  be  the  final  solution  of 
the  prison  question ;  the  first  solution  being  the  prison  for 
the  experiment,  and  the  last  the  physical  and  mental  revolu- 
tion of  the  inmate.  It  looks  like  an  effort  to  reverse  the  oper- 
ation of  natural  forces  and  make  nature  deny  herself.  If  it 
can  be  done  at  all  it  must  be  done  within  the  limits  of  the  fol- 
lowing conditions. 

The  convict  must  be  regarded  as  a  patient  under  treatment 
for  a  constitutional  ailment,  which  can  be  cured  only  by  means 
of  a  constitutional  revolution,  and  the  substitution  of  new  phy- 
sical and  mental  conditions.  The  first  effort  must  be  to  enlarge 
his  understanding.  Give  him  an  idea  of  government,  its  ob- 
jects, organization,  and  methods  of  action.  Next,  the  origin, 
growth  and  powers  of  society,  and  its  relations  to  government. 
Next,  his  own  position  in  and  relations  to  both.  The  privi- 
leges, uses,  and  obligations  of  citizenship.  The  operation  of 
natural  forces  along  the  planes  on  which  the  citizen  moves  in 
his  relations  to  government  and  society,  as  an  integral  factor 
in  each  and  both.  The  meaning  of  law  and  force  and  the  re- 
lation between  the  superior  and  the  subordinate  under  their 
operation,  both  natural  and  municipal.  Unless  he  can  be 
made  to  see  these,  there  will  be  no  foundation  whatever  on 
which  to  build.  Progress  for  creation  of  a  new  mentality  will 
be  hopeless.  If  he  be  of  an  emotional  nature,  a  clergyman 
might  work  on  him  and  produce  a  hope  of  some  unseen  good 
and  a  fear  of  some  unseen  evil ;  but  with  eighty  per  cent,  hav- 
ing "  no  moral  sense,  even  such  as  shown  under  examination, 
either  filial  affection,  sense  of  shame,  or  sense  of  personal  loss," 
— to  use  the  language  of  the  Elmira  report — w7hat  would  be  the 


ISO  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

prospect  of  creating  such  a  moral  sense,  with  a  knowledge  and 
firmness  behind  it  to  maintain  it  as  a  governing  force  to  regu- 
late conduct  ?  The  words  in  that  item  of  the  report  are  among 
the  most  sorrowful  and  depressing  I  have  ever  heard  or  read 
in  connection  with  the  subject  of  penology  ;  and  the  lamenta- 
ble truth  they  carry  to  the  consciousness  of  the  reflecting  mind 
when  searching  the  opening  to  a  means  of  reform,  call  for  the 
highest  order  of  courage  to  meet  them  and  continue  the  search. 
A  man  who  has  been  raised  with  no  home  surroundings 
would  be  a  difficult  subject  on  which  to  impress  true  ideas  of 
domestic  relations  and  life.  The  tables  quoted,  give  between 
forty  and  fifty  per  cent,  as  being  homeless.  About  seventy 
per  cent,  so  illiterate  that  no  true  knowledge  of  home  life  could 
come  through  reading.  Only  eight  per  cent,  had  any  good 
home  surroundings.  Less  than  two  per  cent,  had  good  asso- 
ciations. A  person  of  intelligence  and  moral  impulses  finds  it 
difficult  to  realize  such  a  condition.  It  is  safe  to  say  they  can- 
not realize  it,  any  more  than  a  child  can  realize  the  position  of 
an  adult  and  the  condition  of  the  adult  mind.  And  yet,  for 
the  purpose  of  reform  the  teacher  must  be  able  to  realize  it,  to 
find  the  level  of  the  criminal,  to  see  things  as  he  sees  them,  to 
reason  about  them  as  he  reasons,  to  reach  the  conclusions  he 
reaches,  and  feel  the  impulses  he  feels.  He  can  neither  teach 
or  reform  him  without  doing  so.  He  cannot  teach  him  as  he 
would  a  child.  The  molder  and  wood  bender  will  shape  clay 
and  wood  because  it  is  impressible  ;  but  let  it  be  changed  to- 
stone  by  the  process  of  petrifaction,  and  neither  can  mold  or 
shape  it  for  the  purposes  of  clay  or  wood.  The  young  child  is 
the  clay,  the  youth  is  the  wood,  the  criminal  convict  in  prison 
who  has  no  sense  of  home  is  the  petrifaction.  The  latter  may 
be  elastic  and  to  some  extent  may  be  chiseled  and  bent  into 
shape  by  various  processes ;  but  it  is  not  the  shape  it  could 
have  been  made  before  it  became  petrified.  I  lay  the  soft, 
pliant,  fragrant  cedar  in  the  limestone  stream,  and  the  water 
will  disintegrate  and  remove  particle  by  particle,  the  gums, 
resins  and  woody  fibre,  and  crystallized  forms  of  carbonate  of 
lime  will  be  left  in  the  places,  and  to  all  appearances  the  cedar 
still  lies  there  ;  but  it  is  not  wood.  This  is  the  child  begotten 
and  grown  to  manhood  amid  the  conditions  stated  in  the  re- 


REFORMATION.  l8l 

port  quoted.  The  prison  receives  him  as  you  would  remove 
the  cedar  from  the  stream  to  your  laboratory.  Do  you  be- 
lieve you  can  take  that  cedar  stone  and  restore  it  to  wood? 
That  is  what  the  reformer  can  do  if  he  can  take  this  hardened 
body  and  mind  and  reform  it.  That  is  re-form — remould  it. 
You  may  so  treat  the  crystallized  cedar  as  to  make  it  useful 
and  serve  a  good  purpose  somewhere  ;  but  you  cannot  restore 
it  to  wood  nor  make  it  do  the  offices  of  wood  as  you  could 
have  dow&before  it  was  laid  in  the  stream. 

But  we  will  suppose  you  succeed  in  making  the  convict  com- 
prehend the  true  relations  that  attach  to  him  as  a  member  of 
society  and  in  government,  as  you  may  teach  a  boy  to  solve 
a  problem  in  surveying.  It  will  avail  little  to  the  boy  as  a 
surveyor  without  any  knowledge  of  the  transit  and  the  level. 
He  must  now  be  made  acquainted  with  these  and  how  to  use 
them.  So  with  the  convict.  Having  knowledge  of  his  rela- 
tions to  society  and  government,  he  must  be  taught  how  to 
use  them  and  adapt  himself  to  them,  and  make  a  living  while 
doing  so,  and  not  exceed  the  privileges  accorded  to  him.  In 
the  very  first  requisites  are  an  intellectual  as  well  as  moral  per- 
ception of  the  principles  of  right  and  wrong,  according  to  the 
established  standards.  By  what  kind  of  teaching  will  this  be 
accomplished,  with  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  pupils  having  no 
natural  susceptibility  to  moral  impressions,  and  no  moral 
sense?  The  only  answer  is,  by  creating  the  mental  force 
that  will  produce  moral  sense  and  susceptibility  to  moral  im- 
pressions. That  requires  complete  organic  change  and  ar- 
rangement. The  supply  of  material  and  its  arrangement  in 
such  order  of  combination  as  brain  ganglia,  as  will  permit  of 
impressions  that  will  create  the  faculties.  The  hidden  physi- 
cal and  mental  processes  by  which  it  may  or  can  be  done,  may 
not  be  seen  or  comprehended,  but  to  effect  reform  it  must  be 
done,  and  we  can  only  work  by  the  best  lights  we  have.  What 
I  wish  to  enforce  is,  the  idea  that  the  change  must  be  effected. 
No  matter  that  it  conflicts  with  all  established  ideas.  No  mat- 
ter that  it  is  contrary  to  the  belief  of  the  theologian  and  the 
humanitarian.  It  is  a  simple  matter  of  fact  about  which  there 
can  be  no  dispute.  Such  conditions  must  be  established  in 
the  body  and  brain  of  the  convict,  that  the  natural  forces. 


1 82  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

acting  on  the  proper  planes,  will  supply  the  defective  faculties 
by  building  up  the  ganglions  in  which  alone  they  can  be 
located,  and  place  them  in  harmonious  action  with  others  re- 
quired to  produce  the  desired  result. 

I  am  requested  to  take  as  a  musical  pupil,  one  who  has  no 
natural  perception  as  to  time  or  tune,  and  make  a  musician  of 
him.  He  memorizes  the  lessons,  and  learns  the  keyboard  of 
any  instrument  with  fixed  tones ;  and  he  becomes  a  mechani- 
cal performer.  But  every  sound  must  be  fixed  and  he  must 
perform  with  a  metronome  before  him.  He  cannot  detect 
error  in  the  tones  by  his  ear,  or  emphasize  the  time  by  his 
instinct.  In  a  word,  he  is  a  mere  mechanical  performer.  With 
any  instrument  where  the  tones  are  not  fixed  as  they  are  on  a 
flute  or  piano,  such  as  a  violin,  where  he  must  select  the  stops, 
he  could  not  play,  for  he  would  never  know  when  his  instru- 
ment was  in  tune,  or  his  stop  produced  the  right  tone.  If 
placed  out  to  play  for  a  regiment  to  march,  he  could  not  keep 
time  or  march  in  time  himself.  In  the  ranks  he  could  mechan- 
ically keep  step,  but  at  no  time  be  trusted  alone  to  play  or 
move  in  time.  Now  what  perception  of  time  and  tune  can  be 
built  up  that  will  "reform  "  him,  and  make  a  musician  of  him 
that  can  be  trusted  ?  Wherein  does  he  differ  from  the  con- 
vict with  no  moral  sense — no  susceptibility  to  moral  impres- 
sions ?  Can  you  go  any  farther  in  making  the  convict  susceptible 
to  moral  impressions  and  moral  force  than  you  can  in  making 
the  other  susceptible  to  impressions  of  time  and  tune  ?  That  is 
to  say,  teach  him  the  relations  and  conditions  that  surround  and 
attend  him,  as  you  teach  the  other  the  rudiments  of  music  and 
the  key  board.  Then  teach  him  how  to  adapt  himself  to  them,  as 
you  teach  the  other  the  written  notes  and  how  to  make  the  tones 
they  represent  with  the  keys.  Teach  him  how  to  learn  the 
law  and  keep  inside  of  it,  as  you  tjeach  the  other  to  follow  the 
metronome.  Teach  him  to  watch  other  orderly  people,  as  you 
teach  the  other  to  watch  the  step  of  his  fellows  in  the  ranks. 
Then  place  him  in  the  midst  of  good  influences,  as  you  furnish 
the  other  with  an  instrument  with  fixed  tones  and  written 
music,  and  not  expect  or  require  of  him  that  which  the  natural 
musician  can  do.  How  much  farther  than  this  can  you  go  ? 
How  much  farther  than  this  has  any  one  ever  gone  in  reform? 


REFORMATION.  183 

Sometimes  time  and  tune  are  latent  and  dormant,  and  teach- 
ing and  example  develop  them.  So,  moral  sense  and  percep- 
tion may  be  latent  and  dormant,  and  teaching  and  example 
may  make  them  active.  In  such  case  a  new  and  natural  men- 
tality will  exist  that  is  reformation. 

But  when  you  have  succeeded  with  your  musician  and  con- 
vict and  have  created  an  artificial,  mechanical  musician  of  one 
and  an  artificial,  mechanical  moral  man  of  the  other,  they 
are  helpless  unless  they  can  use  what  they  have  learned  and  at 
the  same  time  make  a  living.  In  the  tables  cited,  we  find 
among  the  ancestry  eighty-two  per  cent,  without  a  means  of 
living  other  than  from  hand  to  mouth.  We  are  left  to  infer 
that  the  convicts  were  like  the  ancestry — no  table  as  to  accu- 
mulations by  them  being  given.  Then  they  have  lacked  the 
faculty  to  acquire  and  keep  the  means  of  living.  They  must 
be  revolutionized  in  this  respect  also.  Can  that,  too,  be  done 
mechanically,  as  the  musician  is  taught  to  play?  Can  you  find 
an  industrial  keyboard  with  fixed  tones,  and  a  metronome  to 
beat  time,  and  written  notes  that  will  respond  to  human  effort, 
and  bring  forth  food  and  raiment?  Yet,  without  this,  there  is 
no  practical  and  permanent  reform.  Reform  does  not  consist 
simply  in  persuading  a  convict  to  be  moral,  but  in  showing 
him  how  to  be  also  practical.  A  moral  man  must  live.  Want, 
starvation,  the  sense  of  an  unequal  struggle  among  his  fellows, 
with  a  sense  of  injustice,  would  soon  bring  demoralization,  and 
he  would  cease  to  be  a  moral  man.  A  man  who  sits  under  a  tree 
with  some  bark  around  him  waiting  for  birds  to  bring  him 
something  to  eat  may  be  a  saint — in  stories — but  he  looks 
through  no  medium  that  shows  him  a  view  of  the  moral  planes 
of  human  thought  and  action.  A  man  who  uses  his  best  en- 
ergies and  faculties  to  secure  bread  and  shelter,  and  the  home 
surroundings  for  which  every  true  human  soul  longs,  and  finds 
his  efforts  fruitless ;  while  those  he  can  see  on  all  sides  enjoy 
everything  he  has  not,  and  seemingly  without  earning  or 
effort,  neither  has  nor  can  have  that  vision  of  moral  obligation 
that  will  make  him  struggle  hourly  to  keep  his  mind  on  an 
ideal  heaven,  a  golden  rule  of  justice,  and  live  on  a  hope  of 
gaining  a  place  in  one,  and  living  under  the  other.  The  class 
of  people  of  whom  eighty  per  cent,  have  "  no  moral  sense  " 


1 84  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

and  "  no  susceptibility  to  moral  impressions,"  after  reaching 
the  age  of  manhood,  do  not  possess  any  elements  that  can  be 
molded  into  such  conditions  as  will  fill  their  mental  field  of 
view  with  such  a  medium  as  will  enable  them  to  see  morality 
and  the  things  that  make  up  "  reformation,"  as  it  is  under- 
stood by  reformers  and  the  students  and  preachers  of  ethics. 

The  Bible  and  Shakspeare  are  the  two  greatest  teachers  the 
world  has  ever  known  ;  and  we  need  not  waste  time  in  disput- 
ing about  the  authorship.  Men  do  not  begin  to  fairly  com- 
prehend either  until  they  reach  fifty  years  in  active  and  observ- 
.ant  life  ;  and  thence  on  they  grow  on  one  continually.  No  phase 
of  life,  no  condition  in  the  corporal  or  mental  world  of  being, 
nothing  that  can  happen  to  body  or  in  thought  to  men,  is  left 
untouched.  Every  possible  relation  has  received  notice  and 
been  touched  upon  somewhere  in  each.  According  to  the  Bible, 
Jehovah  tried  for  centuries  to  educate  and  reform  a  "  chosen 
people."  The  result  was,  dispersion  over  the  face  of  the  earth  to 
become  the  foot-balls  of  all  other  peoples  for  centuries  more. 
If  an  Infinite  Reformer  could  not  succeed,  can  we  finite 
reformers  do  any  better  or  go  any  farther?  He  finally  aban- 
doned all  former  methods,  reversed  the  rule  of  justice,  offered 
His  Son  as  one  great  sacrifice  in  place  of  all  others,  and  left 
the  world  to  take  care  of  itself.  When  asked  to  send  one 
direct  from  torment  to  warn  those  yet  living  that  they  might 
avoid  that  "dreadful  place,"  His  answer  was,  "They  have 
Moses  and  the  prophets.  If  they  will  not  hear  them,  neither 
would  they  hear  one  though  he  should  rise  from  the  dead." 
And  so  man  was  abandoned  of  God,  with  the  law  for  his  guide, 
and  left  to  learn  the  great  law  of  compensation  and  become 
subject  to  it.  After  eighteen  centuries  of  self-administration, 
men  are  still  striving  to  ignore  that  law  and  reach  a  moral 
plane  by  substituting  something  else  for  it  ;  the  most  persist- 
ent instance  of  which  is  evidenced  in  this  "prison  question." 
We  are  trying  to  make  reformation  of  social  evils  do  the  work 
of  prevention.  We  are  trying  to  make  unbridled  license  of 
human  impulses  produce  the  virtues  of  legitimate  liberty.  We 
are  trying  to  maintain  social  conditions  on  a  foundation  of 
equal  and  just  rights,  while  permitting  and  upholding  universal 
wrongs.  We  are  trying  to  reap  the  harvest  of  morality  and 


REFORMATION.  185 

civil  order  while  sowing  the  seeds  of  immorality  and  dis- 
order. 

It  is  with  such  an  environment  that  we  approach  and  enter 
upon  the  field  of  reform  in  an  attempt  to  make  good  citizens 
out  of  the  criminals  that  fill  the  prisons,  and  seek  to  fortify 
ourselves  in  the  belief  that  it  can  be  done  while  we  leave  open 
the  increasing  sources  of  supply.  Looking  through  the  medium, 
not  of  this  environment,  but  of  superstition  and  an  imaginary 
hope  of  the  special  interposition  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  we  go  on 
to  "  save  at  the  spigot  and  spill  at  the  bunghole,"  and  flatter  our- 
selves that  the  Reformatory  is  giving  new  birth  to  eighty  per 
cent,  of  the  mentalities  that  enter  it  with  eighty  per  cent,  of 
their  number  devoid  of  moral  sense  and  susceptibility  to  moral 
impressions  !  I  am  a  pretty  strong  optimist,  but  I  am  not  jus- 
tified in  permitting  my  hopes  to  hide  or  ignore  truth.  I  have 
not  much  faith  in  the  prospect  or  possibility  of  reforming  the 
convicts  as  a  body,  or  any  material  part  of  them.  I  believe 
some  can  be  reformed,  and  many  can  be  partially  so,  and  per- 
haps a  majority  may  be  materially  benefitted.  Like  a  tempo- 
rary relief  from  pain  by  use  of  an  opiate,  even  the  worst  may 
be  so  improved  as  to  give  a  temporary  lull  to  the  evil  impulses 
inherent  in  them,  or  until  stimulated  into  action  by  the  social 
forces  that  must  environ  them.  But  any  reformation  that  is  to 
be  practically  beneficial  and  permanent  must  begin  at  the 
source  instead  of  at  the  outlet  of  the  evil.  I  have  already 
spoken  of  that  source — the  unrestricted  sexual  license — in  the 
chapter  on  Marriage.  There,  reformation  is  possible  that  will 
be  practically  beneficial  and  permanent.  Meantime,  reforma- 
tion at  the  outlet — the  convicts  in  prison — as  far  as  it  is  possi- 
ble, will  aid  in  decreasing  the  vicious  element,  and  after  a  few 
generations  there  can  be  assurance  that  permanent  progress 
has  been  made  in  actual  reform,  and  the  prison  question  will 
no  longer  be  a  mystery  calling  for  solution. 

There  is  no  doubt  about  crime  having  decreased  in  England 
since  the  present  system  of  treating  criminals  has  been  in 
operation,  and  that  reformation  has  been  effected  to  a  greater 
extent  than  has  ever  been  accomplished  before.  But  the  de- 
crease owes  something  to  the  emigration  of  the  criminal  ele- 
ments, to  increased  opportunities  for  labor,  to  a  more  liberal 


1 86  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

legislation  for  the  lower  classes,  giving  them  more  opportunities 
for  progressive  efforts.  But,  more  than  all,  has  been  the  pre- 
ventive measures  in  the  supervision  and  reformation  of  work- 
houses and  tenements ;  and  the  manner  of  living  among  the 
slaves  of  labor,  where  they  were  herded,  lived  and  bred  like 
cattle.  The  reforms  in  these  respects  have  been  extensive,  and 
the  results  are  visible  in  the  decrease  of  criminal  population. 

In  this  country,  while  the  number  of  criminals  is  increasing, 
something  is  owing  to  the  importation  of  many  from  abroad 
and  the  growing  evils  of  crowded  centers,  producing  conditions 
analogous  to  those  England  has  been  remedying  to  some  ex- 
tent. Reformation,  to  a  considerable  degree,  has  been  effected. 
The  improvement  in  prisons  and  in  the  treatment  of  prisoners 
has  tended  to  that  result,  and  will  continue  to  do  so.  When  we 
shall  have  secured  a  system  of  prisons  with  chances  for  classifi- 
cation of  persons,  labor  and  teaching,  with  the  abolition  of  fixed 
terms  and  penalties,  and  the  indeterminate  sentence  alone,  with 
the  Bertillon  or  some  other  system  for  identification  of  prisoners, 
we  may  hope  for  better  and  more  success  in  reformation  of 
convicts.  But  we  cannot  rely  on  their  reformation  for  any 
material  decrease  in  their  numbers,  for  reasons  already  given. 

The  convict  who  has  never  known  the  elevating  influences  of 
a  good  home,  and  who  has  been  buffeted  by  adversity,  unable 
to  form  associations  in  which  affection  or  love  could  find  ger- 
mination and  growth,  or  where  there  was  stimulus  to  self- 
respect,  personal  pride,  and  ambition  to  reach  and  move  on  a 
higher  level,  cannot  but  be  favorably  affected  on  finding  that 
some  one  is  taking  an  interest  in  him.  When  convicted  of 
crime,  pronounced  by  the  courts  to  be  a  bad  man  and  placed 
in  prison,  he  feels  isolated.  He  cannot  look  at  himself  through 
the  medium  that  surrounded  the  court  that  tried  him,  as  the 
judge  and  jury  did.  He  never  had  lived  and  moved  in  any 
such  world  of  thought,  perhaps,  as  they  had  inhabited.  If  he 
had  received  religious  knowledge  and  training,  he  might  be 
susceptible  to  religious  emotions  and  a  personal  interest  in  him 
would  excite  such  emotional  nature  as  he  might  have.  If  he 
had  never  received  such  impressions,  another  kind  of  interest 
would  be  excited,  and  for  the  first  time,  perhaps,  he  would 
see  the  door  opened  and  gain  a  glimpse  of  another  world. 


,  REFORMATION.  187 

another  kind  of  life,  other  motives  in  life;  and  a  soil  might 
be  loosened  into  which  reformatory  seed  could  be  cast.  Sus- 
picion and  distrust  might  hold  him  off  from  response  or  ac- 
ceptance a  longer  or  shorter  time;  but  unvarying  kindness,  and 
offers  of  aid  and  knowledge,  guiding  him  to  better  thoughts 
and  things  for  himself,  and  a  view  of  the  real  use  that  can  be 
made  and  the  real  aims  in  the  use  of  the  good  things  within 
his  reach,  would  sooner  or  later  be  favorably  responded  to ; 
and  it  scarcely  admits  of  doubt  that,  there  will  spring  up  in 
the  heart  of  a  man  who  is  at  all  susceptible  of  emotion,  a  force 
that  will  start  in  him  new  lines  of  thought,  and  open  to  his 
comprehension  new  views  of  life.  With  assurance  before  him 
that  he  can  earn  a  new  trial,  with  help  to  start  in  his  new 
efforts,  this  force  will  increase  in  energy,  and,  aided  by  the 
stimulating  results  of  unvarying  kindness,  teaching,  the  ac- 
quisition of  practical  knowledge,  and  a  gradual  overcoming  of 
the  temporary  obstructions  and  difficulties  that  constantly 
arise  before  him,  with  new  perceptions  and  enlarged  vision, 
reformation  will  come  to  a  greater  or  lesser  extent.  But 
whether  to  the  extent  that  will  enable  him  to  stand  and  walk 
alone  when  the  help  is  withdrawn,  is  and  must  remain  unknown 
until  tested  by  time  in  each  case.  There  have  been  no  such 
tests  on  which  answers  can  be  given  affirmatively  on  a  majority 
of  cases — for  a  sufficient  length  of  time  to  make  the  answers 
reliable.  To  a  certain  extent  affirmative  answers  can  be  re- 
turned. But  the  cases  tried  have  not  been  under  the  indeter- 
minate sentence.  So  far,  that  has  not  yet  obtained  generally 
in  legislation,  and  no  true  tests  can  be  made  until  it  shall  be 
adopted,  in  connection  with  the  system  for  identity,  and  then, 
a  lapse  of  sufficient  time  to  test  the  permanency  of  the  im- 
pressions made  by  the  reformatory  efforts. 

The  effort  in  this  work  has  been,  to  pass  in  review  existing 
conditions,  with  some  facts  as  to  the  causes  of  them,  and  the 
elements  and  factors  that  are  inseperable  in  the  subject  matter, 
however  we  may  try  to  consider  it  and  formulate  plans  for 
bettering  conditions,  and  bringing  about  reformation  in  both 
prisons  and  inmates.  The  subject  is  so  important,  involves  so 
much,  in  so  many  directions  and  relations,  and  the  experience 
and  views  of  those  engaged  in  various  ways  in  connection  with 


1 88  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

it  are  so  variant,  that  it  is  difficult  to  give  such  comprehensive 
views  of  it  as  will  be  generally  satisfactory  ;  and  in  the  order 
of  treatment  here  assumed  more  or  less  repetition  is  inevitable. 
But,  if  we  can  call  attention  to  only  a  few  truths  and  practical 
propositions,  the  results  in  combined  action  with  other  forces 
must  be  ultimately  beneficial.  We  can  formulate  a  general 
standard  of  right  and  wrong  that  in  principle,  will  be  axiomatic, 
though  in  practical  application  it  must  change  in  adaptation 
to  changiug  social  and  political  conditions.  Such  a  standard 
I  have  endeavored  to  outline  in  the  chapter  on  legislation. 
With  such  a  standard,  with  legislation  founded  on  the  princi- 
ples of  justice,  with  laws  relating  to  prisons,  crimes  and  con- 
victs, founded  on  the  principle  of  reformation,  and  with 
others  tending  to  the  prevention  of  propagation  of  degenerate 
humanity,  we  shall  have  reached  the  limit  of  human  endeavor. 
I  am  optimist  enough  to  believe  that  American  intelligence 
and  civilization,  under  the  stimulating  influence  of  liberty, 
furnishes  a  soil  in  which  the  seed  of  truth  will  germinate  and 
fructify  if  once  sown.  It  may  fall  mostly  by  the  wayside  at 
first,  but  some  will  find  fertile  spots ;  and  once  started,  it  will 
in  time  produce  an  hundredfold.  In  this  faith  I  have  scat- 
tered what  I  believe  to  be  such  seed  in  the  contents  of  this 
volume,  hoping  it  may  prove  to  be  broadcast. 

Regarding,  as  I  do,  prevention  as  the  most  reliable  means 
for  beneficial  and  permanent  reform  in  all  things  relating  to 
crime,  pauperism  and  the  defective  classes,  as  well  as  in  the 
general  elevation  of  the  moral  conditions  in  society  and  gov- 
ernment, I  hope  that,  slowly  but  surely,  the  knowledge  will 
obtain  that  marriage  is  not  romance,  but  the  very  highest  order 
of  business,  requiring  more  deliberation,  more  care  and  fore- 
thought, and  entailing  more  responsibilty  than  any  other  act 
known  to  humanity.  That  government  will  recognize  that  it 
has  no  greater  obligation  resting  on  it  than  to  see  to  it  that 
none  have  its  license  to  enter  into  a  contract  of  marriage  who  are 
unfit  for  its  relations  and  duties,  as  far  as  human  foresight  and 
legal  provisions  and  restraint  can  prevent.  That  promiscuous 
intercourse  between  the  sexes  must  be  prevented  by  municipal 
regulations  of  the  social  evil,  as  other  evils  are  regulated 
under  license,  and  the  supervisory  charge  of  a  competent  board 


REFORMATION.  189 

of  health,  and  police  enforcement,  as  I  have  outlined  in  the 
chapter  on  Marriage. 

Thus  would  be  narrowed  the  boundaries  of  the  vicious 
planes  on  which  move  the  vast  hordes  of  unfortunates  call- 
ing for  state  aid  and  supervision.  Thus  would  come  sufficient 
guarantees  for  the  care,  culture  and  future  progress  of  such 
dependents  as  accident  and  misfortune  might  thrust  into  the 
arms  of  Charity.  Thus  would  come  a  solution  of  the  "prison 
question "  in  the  hope  of  clearer  moral  perceptions,  more 
correct  views  of  a  true  humanity,  and  greater  assurance  for 
the  safety  and  perpetuation  of  our  liberal  institutions,  under 
which,  morality  and  dignity  should  clothe  every  person  who 
claims  that  most  sovereign  of  all  dignities — the  name  of 
AMERICAN  CITIZEN. 

If,  in  these  pages,  I  shall  have  contributed  anything  that 
will  aid  in  assuring  such  a  consummation,  I  shall  not  have 
lived  in  vain. 


CHAPTER  XV. 

CONCLUSION. 

EVERYTHING  tends  to  centralization.  Vapor  in  con- 
densing forms  globules.  Melted  lead  scattered  and 
falling  from  a  height  cools  in  the  same  form,  and  so  does  water 
thrown  into  the  air  as  it  separates.  Birds  gather  in  flocks, 
animals  in  herds,  fish  in  schools,  snakes  in  coils  and  knots,  bees 
and  ants  in  colonies,  monkeys,  savages  and  semi-barbarians  in 
tribes,  civilized  people  in  nations,  and  society  into  communi- 
ties and  cliques,  and  they  all  prey  on  each  other.  Power  tends 
in  the  direction  of  centralization  and  usurpation.  Weeds  grow 
in  clusters  and  beds  and  gather  in  density.  Cultivated  plants 
constantly  tend  to  deterioration  in  spite  of  every  effort.  The 
vegetables  and  fruits  tend  to  wildness  and  hybridism  and  cen- 
tralization of  the  characteristics  that  belong  to  the  indigenous 
kind  from  which  they  originally  came  and  from  which  they 
have  been  changed  by  cultivation.  Humanity  is  no  exception 
to  this  rule ;  and  while  what  we  call  civilization  elevates  it  far 
above  natural  savagery,  vice  keeps  pace  with  virtue  in  so-called 
refinement,  and  is  changed  only  in  the  methods  of  its  exhibi- 
tion. We  see  occasional  instances  of  what  looks  like  a  rose 
growing  out  of  a  dunghill,  and  they  seem  like  cases  of  abnor- 
mal degeneracy.  Is  it  such  ?  A  man  or  woman  of  beautiful 
physical  development,  of  superior  intelligence,  full  of  delicate 
as  well  as  of  great  accomplishments  ;  the  one  dressed  in  the 
garb  of  a  tramp,  leading  a  tramp's  life,  and  perhaps  commit- 
ting crime.  If  dressed  like  a  gentleman,  he  could  entertain 
and  edify  scholars  and  statesmen  ;  but  his  mentality  is  such 
that  he  would  pass  back  to  his  rags  and  mingle  with  tramps 
beside  the  strawstack,  and  listen  to  obscene  recitals  while 
drinking  stale  beer  from  an  old  can  and  smoking  a  dirty  pipe ; 
the  voluntary  fellow  of  vulgar,  ignorant,  crime-stained  vaga- 
bonds. The  other  may  be  found  in  the  gilded  haunts  of  vice, 


CONCLUSION.  191 

and  also  among  the  dwellers  of  the  slums,  the  victims  of  drink 
.and  debauchery-.  There  are  thousands  of  these  in  the  gar- 
ments of  women,  victims  of  their  own  mentalisms  and  the  dom- 
inant savagery  in  men.  Can  we  take  them  and  restore  them 
to  a  place  in  the  conservatory,  as  companions  of  refinement  ? 
These  are  such  roses  in  degenerate  soil,  gone  back  to  wildness. 
The  attempt  to  cultivate  them  in  such  a  soil — which  is  all  we 
have  when  once  degenerate — is  made  in  the  face  of  history  that 
teaches  us  the  tendency  of  all  things  to  centralization  and  re- 
trogression to  the  original  condition  from  which  it  has  been 
brought.  The  rose-bushes  separately  planted  and  cultivated 
constantly  tend  to  wildness — to  return  to  the  single-leaf  flowers, 
and  finally  to  the  blasted  bud  with  no  flower,  and  only  the  imper- 
fect bulb  from  which  a  bud  should  but  does  not  come  ;  and 
finally,  to  a  centralized  patch  and  then  a  whole  wilderness  of 
briers,  unless  some  stronger  growth  strangles  and  crowds  them 
out. 

All  these,  the  birds  and  animals,  the  fish  and  bees,  the  veget- 
ables and  fruits  and  flowers  require  constant  change  in  treat- 
ment, in  feeding,  in  mixing,  to  produce  and  preserve  for  a 
time  only,  one  variety  of  superior  kind  ;  and  it  will  not  be  per- 
petual, but  will  deteriorate  and  be  succeeded  by  a  new  one, 
bred  from  admixture.  Next  to  man  the  bees  and  the  ants  are 
the  most  perfect  in  their  intelligence,  and  they  live  and  plan  and 
.act  for  themselves  the  most  like  men,  except  that  they  take  care 
to  destroy  the  worthless  and  save  the  strongest  and  most  val- 
uable, which  man  does  not ;  on  the  contrary,  he  strives  to 
make  roses  out  of  the  fungus  of  dunghills,  knowing  that  at  last 
it  must  produce  the  wilderness  of  briers. 

Man's  nature  is  essentially  animal.  The  barbarian  cannot  be 
entirely  educated  out  of  him.  The  dog-feast  of  the  savage,  with 
his  clay  and  ochre  paints,  his  bear's  grease  and  wampum  em- 
broidery— the  state  dinner  of  the  President,  with  its  toothsome 
roasts  and  piquant  sauces,  its  silver  and  flowers  and  fine  rai- 
ment, its  perfumes  and  rouge — and  the  banquet  of  a  king,  with 
its  gold  and  gorgeous  trappings,  its  delicate  wines  and  prece- 
dence oif  place  and  ceremonies — are  one  and  the  same  thing, 
differing  only  in  degree.  They  are  the  elements  of  the  bar- 
barian in  man  which  so-called  civilization  has  refined  but  can- 


192  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

not  eradicate,  and  that  crop  out  in  these  formalities.  On  the 
other  hand,  no  savage  was  ever  naturally  a  thief.  He  would 
be  a  marauder,  a  robber,  a  murderer,  but  never  a  petty  thief. 
It  remained  for  civilization — while  it  made  rights  of  property, 
law,  and  courts — to  change  him  into  a  thief,  a  forger,  an  as- 
sassin, and  many  other  kinds  of  a  criminal,  and  teach  him  how 
to  gild  vice  and  deceive  virtue ;  to  check  the  outflow  of  his 
natural  impulses  to  do  openly,  boldly  and  above-board,  what 
he  now  does  by  secretion,  hypocrisy,  deceit,  lying,  and  like  a 
coward  ;  for  he  constantly  tends  to  retrogression  and  savagery, 
like  the  rose  to  the  brier.  His  vices  are  refined  in  one  direc- 
tion and  new  kinds  are  bred  in  another;  and  the  skill  given  by 
increase  of  knowledge  is  used  to  make  vice  successful  as  well 
as  to  give  progress  to  order  and  morals. 

All  the  barbarities  of  Indian  war  and  massacre  and  murder 
do  not  exhibit  a  tithe  of  the  barbarism  exhibited  in  civilized 
life,  in  some  form,  daily.  No  savage  ever  rivaled  "  Jack  the 
Ripper  "  in  unprovoked  savagery,  or  the  woman  of  a  great  city 
who  lately  poured  coal  oil  over  her  sleeping  husband  and  set 
him  on  fire  ;  or  the  acts  of  incendiarism,  murder  and  cruelties 
that  crush  hearts  as  well  as  take  life,  which  we  witness  around 
us  daily. 

It  is  a  serious  question  whether  we  have  not  reached  the 
limits  of  civilization  as  an  ethical  force,  and  if  it  will  not  be 
succeeded  by  retrogression  and  a  new  and  changed  one.  Has 
the  wave  reached  the  highest  impulse,  and  will  it  now  begin  to 
recede  ?  It  began  in  the  east,  has  crossed  two  continents,  and 
reached  the  utmost  limit.  A  new  civilization  has  started  along 
the  shores  of  the  Yellow  Sea.  As  the  civilization  of  Egypt, 
Babylon,  Palmyra,  On,  and  the  great  eastern  world,  whose 
mighty  ruins  surpass  our  comprehension,  and  whose  literature, 
so  far  as  deciphered,  we  must  regard  as  full  of  scientific  and 
philosophical  knowledge,  reached  a  limit,  then  passed  away  to 
be  succeeded  by  that  of  Greece  and  Rome  and  the  middle 
nations,  and  that  in  turn  by  a  later  in  the  western  nations, 
which  has  now  reached  the  Pacific  in  us,  have  we  not  reached 
the  limit  of  our  capacity,  and  will  we  not,  henceforth,  begin  to 
recede,  and  leave  the  rhythmic  movement  to  repeat  itself  as  it 
has  done  before  ?  We  may  go  on  for  a  time,  gaining  more 


CONCLUSION.  193 

knowledge,  but  will  it  be  used  for  individual  and  communal 
elevation,  or  for  such  gratification  as  must  bring  on  moral 
deterioration  and  physical  degeneration  ? 

The  facts  that  come  before  us  with  a  careful  and  serious  con- 
sideration of  this  prison  question  are  not  of  a  character  to  en- 
courage us  to  reject  such  a  possibility.  The  necessity  that  com- 
pels us  to  recognize  that,  amidst  all  this  civilizing  force  and  the 
enlightenment  which  attends  us,  the  criminals,  the  vicious,  the 
demented,  deformed  and  incurably  diseased  from  birth,  among 
rich  and  poor,  the  educated  and  uneducated,  as  also  the  hered- 
itary paupers,  are  increasing  in  numbers  out  of  all  proportion 
with  the  general  increase  of  population  ;  while  the  vicious  and 
the  criminals  are  becoming  more  vicious,  more  reckless,  more 
depraved  and  barbarous  in  their  methods,  and  the  benefits  of 
education  and  scientific  discovery  are  used  to  aid  their  ingenu- 
.ity  in  defying  detection  and  arrest ;  with  the  added  facts  that, 
not  one  in  ten  of  those  who  commit  crime  are  arrested  and 
convicted  by  the  agents  of  the  law,  while  the  courts  of  Judge 
Lynch  are  held  with  alarming  frequency,  and  justice  is  there 
administered  with  more  certainty  than  obtains  in  the  courts  of 
law,  is  one  of  appaling  significance;  and  makes  it  difficult  to 
escape  a  belief  that  the  seeds  of  mortality  in  the  civilized  na- 
tions are  germinating  and  growing,  and  that,  with  a  rapidity 
unparalleled  in  former  civilizations,  we  shall  decay  as  rapidly 
as  we  have  matured. 

In  the  efforts  of  reformers  to  convert  the  fungi  I  have  re- 
ferred to  into  roses  for  conservatory  uses,  I  am  not  sanguine 
of  success ;  I  have  not  confidence  in  the  soil,  the  strength  of 
the  wood  fibre,  the  tenacity  of  life  in  the  root,  or  the  fragrance 
or  stability  of  the  flowers.  The  dung-hills  are  here  in  great 
numbers  by  our  own  permission  and  creation,  and  more  are 
being  heaped  among  us  daily,  with  their  fungoid  growths,  in 
rapidly  increasing  patches,  fields  and  wildernesses.  Can  we 
change  them  and  their  products  into  rose-beds  and  keep  them 
so  by  any  means  human  ingenuity  can  devise?  If  we  can,  we 
must  be  able  to  reverse  the  operation  of  natural  forces.  But 
we  can  lessen  the  hills  and  their  product.  We  can  extirpate 
the  worst,  and  in  some  measure  change  the  growth  and  per- 
fection of  some  of  the  fungus  into  something  tolerable  in 


IQ4  THE   PRISON   QUESTION. 

others  existing,  here  and  there,  and  thus,  after  some  genera- 
tions, give  hope  of  a  renewed  chance  for  the  true  blessings 
that  a  true  civilization  would  confer.  But  will  it  be  attempted  ? 
Not  unless  a  radical  change  occurs  in  the  public  opinion,  with 
a  courage  born  of  intelligent  conviction,  as  to  the  necessity  of 
immediate  action  based  on  a  true  comprehension  of  social  and 
political  ethics.  The  man  or  woman  who  believes  that  the 
existing  soil  and  growth  from  whence  these  classes  come  can 
be  tolerated,  and  that  eighty  per  cent,  of  the  fungi  can  be  con- 
verted into  useful  plants,  is  a  dreamer;  with  faith  in  and  hope 
for  the  utterly  impossible. 

In  sheer  defence  we  must  do  something  other  than  we  are 
doing.  As  a  contribution  to  efforts  in  that  direction  the 
thoughts  expressed  in  this  book  are  presented  to  such  as  find 
time  and  disposition  to  consider  them.  They  are  launched 
upon  the  sea  of  public  opinion  with  the  hope  that  some  of 
them  will  escape  shipwreck ;  will  find  places  where  they  will 
lodge,  attract  attention,  and  stimulate  serious  consideration ; 
and  thus  aid  a  little  in  support  of  an  energy  that  can  and 
should  be  exerted  to  better  the  social  conditions,  while  tending 
to  the  eradication  of  a  false  modesty  and  a  better  knowledge 
of  the  truth. 


^' 


VcJjy-JLc 


/  x  fQ  J   <C 

'/3-~-4r-p4     V. 

r4   r      /»          -^ //r 

g^&x^  ,9^ 

**--4r^^'jUr^ 


/  / 1  #''vw5txv-£v: 

/ 


Y/fTTj&VUSsV 


A    000032411     1 


